D8 Flow Accumulation Tool

D8 Flow Accumulation

This tool generates a flow accumulation grid that shows how much water flows through each part of a landscape. It uses the D8 algorithm, which directs water from each cell to only one neighboring cell that is lower down.

Input parameters

• Input raster DEM or D8 pointer file – Select the file that will be generated into a grid.
• Optional flag to request the output be log-transformed – Adjusts the output flow accumulation grid by applying the natural logarithm to the values, which helps improve the visualization of flow distribution.
• Optional flag to request clipping the display max by 1% – Limits the highest 1% of flow accumulation values in the output grid, enhancing the visualization by preventing extremely high values from dominating the display.
• Is the input raster a D8 flow pointer rather than a DEM? – Specifies whether the provided raster is a D8 flow pointer instead of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM).
• Input D8 pointer uses the ESRI style scheme – Affects how flow direction is interpreted and should be specified if the pointer does not use the default WhiteboxTools scheme.

Output parameters

• Output raster file – Enter the name for the new generated grid.
• Output type; one of 'cells' (default), 'catchment area', and 'specific contributing area' – Allows you to specify the form of the flow accumulation grid, choosing between 'cells' (the default, showing the number of inflowing cells), 'catchment area' (the total upslope area), or 'specific contributing area' (catchment area divided by flow width).

Current Location in toolbox

Rasters/D8 Flow Accumulation

Related Links

• D8 Flow Accumulation Whitebox Documentation