What is Basin?
Basin is an open-source desktop application focused on the analysis and design of drainage basins, watersheds, and subsurface water systems. Developed by the Conservation Biology Institute, Basin aims to provide an accessible toolset for hydrologists, civil engineers, land managers, and others working with water resources.
Key features of Basin include:
- Import and visualization of digital elevation models, aerial imagery, soil data, and other spatial data
- Automated and manual delineation of basins, subbasins, and watersheds using terrain processing algorithms
- Calculation of hydrologic parameters such as slope, flow direction, flow accumulation, stream power index, and more
- Network, subbasin, and Hortonian analysis tools
- Visual assessment of terrain, land cover, soils, and derived raster data
- Mapping and reporting capabilities
- Support for common GIS data formats like GeoTIFF, ESRI Grid, shapefile, and more
As an open-source program written in Java, Basin is cross-platform compatible across Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. The source code is freely available for customization or integration into other software projects. Basin represents a powerful open-source option for professionals and academics conducting drainage basin design, flood studies, erosion modeling, or other hydrology work.