Implementing into GIS a Tool to Automate the Calculation of Physiographic Parameters of River Basins

Abstract

The physiographic characterization of a basin is a fundamental element as it defines the hydrological behavior of that basin. The present work deals with the development and implementation of a tool that allows calculating in an automated manner the physiographic parameters of a basin, as well as those of the surface runoff and main river, besides other graphic elements: hypsometric curve, equivalent rectangle and profile of the main river. Such a tool was developed under Visual Basic 6 programming language and the spatial geographic component ArcObjects by ESRI; they enabled the development of a library as a final product (.dll), which can be loaded and implemented in ArcMap software. In the methodology a Conceptual Model was established, from which it was possible to identify the requirements and methods to obtain the parameters, as well as the conception and implementation of the Logical Model that includes the specific functions and also the input structures, processes and data output. Finally, the tool was tested with actual data from El Caracol river basin, located in central-southern Mexico, which showed the easiness and usefulness of it, besides the effectiveness of the results, not leaving aside the time and resources saved by the user when characterizing a basin, compared with other conventional processes.