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Basin (Spatial Analyst Tools)

Summary

Creates a raster delineating all drainage basins.

Usage

  • The drainage basins are delineated within the analysis window by identifying ridge lines between basins. The input flow direction raster is analyzed to find all sets of connected cells that belong to the same drainage basin. The drainage basins are created by locating the pour points at the edges of the analysis window (where water would pour out of the raster), as well as sinks, then identifying the contributing area above each pour point. This results in a raster of drainage basins.

  • To create the input D8 flow direction raster, the Flow Direction tool must be run using the default flow direction type D8.

    The best results will be obtained if when the input D8 Flow Direction raster was created, the Force all edge cells to flow outward option (FORCE in Python) was enabled.

  • All cells in the raster will belong to a basin, even if that basin is only one cell.

  • When the output raster format is .crf, this tool supports the Pyramid raster storage environment. Pyramids will be created in the output by default. For any other output format, this environment is not supported, and pyramids will not be created.

  • This tool can be GPU accelerated, which means that if a compatible graphics processing unit (GPU) is available on your system, it will be used to enhance the performance of the tool. Use the Target device for analysis parameter (analysis_target_device in Python) to control whether the GPU or CPU will be used to run the tool.

    See GPU processing with Spatial Analyst for details on compatible GPUs, configuring and working with GPU devices, as well as troubleshooting tips.

  • See Analysis environments and Spatial Analyst for additional details on the geoprocessing environments that apply to this tool.

Parameters

Label Explanation Data type

Input D8 flow direction raster

The input raster that shows the direction of flow out of each cell.

A flow direction raster can be created with the Flow Direction tool, using the default D8 flow direction type .

Raster Layer

Target device for analysis

(Optional)

Specifies the device that will be used to perform the calculation.

  • GPU then CPU—If a compatible GPU is found, it will be used to perform the calculation; otherwise, the CPU will be used. This is the default.

  • CPU only—The calculation will only be performed on the CPU.

  • GPU only—The calculation will only be performed on the GPU.

String

Return value

Label Explanation Data type

Output raster

The output raster that delineates the drainage basins.

This output is of integer type.

Raster

Environments

Auto Commit, Cell Size, Cell Size Projection Method, Compression, Current Workspace, Extent, Geographic Transformations, GPU ID, Mask, Output CONFIG Keyword, Output Coordinate System, Processor Type, Pyramid, Scratch Workspace, Snap Raster, Tile Size

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires Spatial Analyst
  • Standard: Requires Spatial Analyst
  • Advanced: Requires Spatial Analyst