Hydrological code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:44, 21 November 2022

Revision as of 13:46, 21 November 2022

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{{Short description|Sequence of numbers or letters that identify a hydrological feature}}

A '''hydrological code''' or '''hydrologic unit code''' is a sequence of numbers or letters (a ''[[geocode]]'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such likeas a [[river]], river [[Reach (geography)|reach]], [[lake]], or area like a [[drainage basin]] (also called watershed in North America) or catchment.

One system, developed by [[Arthur Newell Strahler|Strahler]], known as the [[Strahler number|Strahler stream order]], ranks streams based on a hierarchy of tributaries. Each segment of a stream or river within a river network is treated as a node in a tree, with the next segment downstream as its parent. When two first-order streams come together, they form a second-order stream. When two second-order streams come together, they form a third-order stream, and so on.