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Anthropogenic Disturbances and Natural Variables in the Conterminous United States Linked to Catchments and Buffers of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 2.1

Metadata Updated: January 7, 2026

This USGS data release contains landscape variables representing anthropogenic disturbances to stream habitats and natural variables summarized within local and network stream catchments of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 2.1 (NHDPlusV2.1) as well as a 90 meter local and network buffer of stream reaches throughout the conterminous U.S. The source datasets compiled and attributed to spatial units were identified as being: (1) consistent extent across the entire study area; (2) broadly representative of conditions in the past 20 years, and (3) of adequate spatial resolution that they could be used to make valid comparisons among local catchment units. Variables summarized at the catchment scale include measures of anthropogenic land uses, population density, roads, mines, water withdrawals, fertilizer use and nutrient yields on land that drain to rivers, and point-source pollution sites; whereas buffers were attributed with only land cover variables. In this data set, variable summaries are linked to catchments and buffers developed for the NHDPlusV2.1 using the ComID as the unique identifier. Catchment attributes are available for both local catchments (defined as the land area draining directly to a reach; attributes begin with "L_" prefix) and network catchments (defined by all upstream contributing catchments to the reach's outlet, including the reach's own local catchment; attributes begin with "N_" prefix). Like the catchment variables the buffer variables are labeled using a LB and NB prefix for local buffer and network buffer variables, respectively. Data are provided in comma separated value (CSV) and Parquet file formats. Parquet file format is provided to help facilitate faster download and read capabilities when using compatible packages in coding languages such as R and Python.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 7, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 7, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6081a48dd34e8564d6866173
Data Last Modified 2024-12-20T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 3d595291-329e-4969-8130-a57e75c392e9
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -125.1563, 24.5271, -66.6211, 49.4967
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 32473e21087c3c78a26e10a45ea7d42eb75fba16c4a85b30ab3492e726d38fff
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -125.1563, 24.5271, -125.1563, 49.4967, -66.6211, 49.4967, -66.6211, 24.5271, -125.1563, 24.5271}

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