Science Inventory

Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources

Citation:

Impact/Purpose:

Refine risk assessment science

Description:

Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) is not a model per se, but is a multipurpose environmental decision support system for use by regional, state, and local agencies in performing watershed- and water-quality-based studies. BASINS was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Water to address three objectives: (1) To facilitate examination of environmental information, (2) To support analysis of environmental systems, and (3) To provide a framework for examining management alternatives. BASINS provides both simple (e.g. PLOAD) and temporally detailed (e.g. HSPF, SWAT, SWMM) models for simulating hydrologic and pollutant loads/concentrations emanating from watersheds. BASINS also provides direct linkages between watershed and detailed aquatic ecosystem simulation models (AQUATOX, WASP), to facilitate analysis of watershed impacts on aquatic ecosystem processes.

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT

Product Published Date:10/06/2013

Record Last Revised:10/31/2014

OMB Category:Other

Record ID: 74888

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Keywords:

GIS, Watershed delineation, Watershed models, TMDLs, Hydrology, Fate and Transport, Pollutant loads,

Model Keywords:

Clean Water Act (CWA), Ecological Indicators, Body Burden - Dose (e.g., phamacokinetics, retention, transformation), Frequency and Duration, Accumulation (e.g., deposition, sedimentation), Transformation (e.g., chemical reaction, partitioning, biodegradation), Transport (e.g., advection, bulk, dispersion, diffusion), Water (e.g., surface water, ground water), Area Source (e.g., spray, fertilizer, lagoon, holding area), Point Source (e.g., tank, spill, stack, discharge pipe), Biological (e.g., microbial), Chemical (e.g., organic, inorganic, toxics), Physical (e.g., radiation, heat particles, fibers, noise),

Model Detail:

Model Evaluation :There was extensive beta testing (model evaluation) during system development.

Sensitivity analysis has been performed on HSPF in online calibration guidance.

The model has been externally peer reviewed.

QA/QC was performed on each GIS data layer, as described in BASINS meta data.

Model URL :http://www.epa.gov/ost/basins

Model Guidance Documents :User Guide is available from the BASINS website

Model Decision Documents :Additional documentation, indcluding advanced technical documentation in BASINS Technical Notes series, Frequently Asked Questions, and BASINS GIS data meta data are available at: www.epa.gov/ost/basins/bsnsdocs.html

Model Download Information :http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/basins/b3webdwn.htm

modelcontactinfo :Lisa Larimer
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water, Office of Science and Technology
202-566-1017
larimer.lisa@epa.gov

Model Inputs :Misc. GIS data

Model Outputs :Data Download Tool obtains multiple GIS data layers, as well as meteorological, hydrologic and hydraulic (gaging station) and monitoring data. Watershed Delineation Tool employs downloaded GIS data to delineate watersheds with user-specifiable subbasins. Model setup and analysis utilities provide user-friendly interfaces for creating watershed (e.g. HSPF) simulations and evaluating results.

otheruserdocs :See http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/BASINS/bsnsdocs.html

Model Computer Requirements:

Model Operating Systems Needs :Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP

Model Hardware Needs :200MHz or higher Pentium with a minimum of 300MB of disk space

Model Programming Language(s) :Model has a GUI.

The model has the following internal GIS capabilities: Y TARGET, ASSESS, Data Mining features to analyze water quality and point source discharge data on multi-watershed, watershed, and water quality station scales. Add/import themes, project data, project gridded data format, automated watershed delineation.

The model uses national (conterminous U.S.) GIS data coverages.

The model includes all graphical capabilities of ArcView, including capability to produce map overlays, custom layouts, and charts.

The model has a GenScn postprocessor with the following features: (1) view tables and graphs of model output time series, (2) compare multiple time series, aggregate data according to different time series and simple statistics (average, sum, min/max), (3) plot single and multiple time series, and (4) plot differences.

Internal pre-processing (input file development) capabilities are included with the model.

other_req :MapWindow (BASINS 4.0) ArcView with Spatial Analyst (BASINS 3.1)