Questions about ArcSWAT Pro version

[Zhuohang Wu]

1. Are there any tutorials or manuals available specifically for the ArcSWAT Pro version?

 

2. In the Delineate Watershed step, I noticed that the options “Burn in existing stream network” and “Define stream threshold” can be selected at the same time. Could you please clarify why they can be used simultaneously? I thought they might be mutually exclusive, and should I only use one of them?

3. When I choose “Use existing watershed”, if I do not select an Inlets/Outlets shapefile, will ArcSWAT automatically generate an outlet?

4. For “Show TauDEM output”, I do not see any difference whether it is checked or not as no additional layers seem to appear. Is that expected?

5. Regarding the Landuse Table and Soil Table options, there are several choices besides “Use CSV file.” Could you please explain what each option means? Also, if you have an example of a CSV file for either the landuse or soil table, could you please share it with me?

6. For Usersoil, I understand it is required when the Soil Table is set to “Use CSV file.” However, if I select SSURGO or STATSGO2, does that mean the Soil Table option can be left unselected? And if I select STATSGO, which Soil Table option should I use?
7. We found that the ArcSWAT Pro interface is quite similar to QSWAT, so we followed the QSWAT files as a reference. I would like to ask: when using the Existing Stream option, should the shapefile’s attribute table be organized in the same format as the one shown in the attached screenshot? I tried it, but it still didn’t work.
   Could you please share an example of a correct stream shapefile if you have one? Also, if you have a standard example of a SSURGO file with the proper attribute table format, I would greatly appreciate it as well.

 

[Chris George]

On 10/18/2025 2:09 AM, Zhuohang Wu wrote:

> 1. Are there any tutorials or manuals available specifically for the
> ArcSWAT Pro version?

There is an installation video. Otherwise use the QSWAT manual.>
> 2. In the Delineate Watershed step, I noticed that the options “Burn in

> existing stream network” and “Define stream threshold” can be
> selected at the same time. Could you please clarify why they can be
> used simultaneously? I thought they might be mutually exclusive, and
> should I only use one of them?

Burning in decreases the DEM values along the stream path. It does not
define the stream; it just makes it more likely that delineation will
create the stream in the same place.>
> 3. When I choose “Use existing watershed”, if I do not select an

> Inlets/Outlets shapefile, will ArcSWAT automatically generate an outlet?

Yes>
> 4. For “Show TauDEM output”, I do not see any difference whether it is

> checked or not as no additional layers seem to appear. Is that expected?

Yes>
> 5. Regarding the Landuse Table and Soil Table options, there are

> several choices besides “Use CSV file.” Could you please explain
> what each option means? Also, if you have an example of a CSV
> file for either the landuse or soil table, could you please share it
> with me?

See the manual and the Robit example>
> 6. For Usersoil, I understand it is required when the Soil Table is set

> to “Use CSV file.” However, if I select SSURGO or STATSGO2, does
> that mean the Soil Table option can be left unselected? And if I
> select STATSGO, which Soil Table option should I use?

You don't need a usersoil table with STATSGO or SSURGO. You don't need
a soil lookup table with SSURGO.

> 7.

> We found that the ArcSWAT Pro interface is quite similar to QSWAT,
> so we followed the QSWAT files as a reference. I would like to ask:
> when using the Existing Stream option, should the shapefile’s
> attribute table be organized in the same format as the one shown in
> the attached screenshot? I tried it, but it still didn’t work.

> Could you please share an example of a correct stream shapefile if
> you have one? Also, if you have a standard example of a SSURGO file
> with the proper attribute table format, I would greatly appreciate
> it as well.

Existing watersheds are exactly the same as for QSWAT. "It didn't work"
is not enough detail for anyone to diagnose an error: you need to
provide precise error messages and describe what you did to get them.

Chris

[Zhuohang Wu]

Thank you for your reply. I still have a few questions that I don’t quite understand. I’ve attached some screenshots. I am sorry, I forgot to include them in my previous message.

> 5. Regarding the Landuse Table and Soil Table options, there are

> several choices besides “Use CSV file.” Could you please explain
> what each option means? Also, if you have an example of a CSV
> file for either the landuse or soil table, could you please share it
> with me?

  There are many options here. Although it’s possible to proceed without selecting a SSURGO table, I’d like to understand what each option specifically means.  

 7.

> We found that the ArcSWAT Pro interface is quite similar to QSWAT,
> so we followed the QSWAT files as a reference. I would like to ask:
> when using the Existing Stream option, should the shapefile’s
> attribute table be organized in the same format as the one shown in
> the attached screenshot? I tried it, but it still didn’t work.

> Could you please share an example of a correct stream shapefile if
> you have one? Also, if you have a standard example of a SSURGO file
> with the proper attribute table format, I would greatly appreciate
> it as well.

 From the QSWAT documentation, I understand that using an existing stream requires creating several fields in the attribute table (as shown in the first screenshot). So, I prepared the table accordingly (as shown in the second screenshot). However, when I click “Delineate Watershed,” the button is unresponsive. Could you please tell me the correct format?

As for the SSURGO data, in the previous version, the SSURGO raster kept the original six-digit MUKEY values, but in the Pro version, it seems that it automatically converts them into three-digit numeric codes. I’ve tried a few methods to keep the original MUKEYs, but none of them worked (The first screenshot shows what my prepared SSURGO attribute table looks like, and the second one shows how it appears to be automatically generated in the Create HRU step after I select it.).If I keep the three-digit values, an error message appears, just like in the last screenshot. Is there any way to fix this?

Zhuohang

[Chris George]

The drop down menus show existing landuse or soil tables, plus an option
to create a new table by importing a csv file. Example csv files are in
the Robit example or in the QSWAT manual.

I don't understand what is happening with your soil maps: there seem to
be two maps with different data. You need a soil raster with values
that are MUID values found in the database. ArcSWAT does not look at
raster attribute tables, only the values read from the raster.

Chris

On 10/20/2025 7:08 PM, Zhuohang Wu wrote:
> Thank you for your reply. I still have a few questions that I don’t
> quite understand. I’ve attached some screenshots. I am sorry, I forgot
> to include them in my previous message. > 5. Regarding the Landuse Table
> and Soil Table options, there

> ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart
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>
> Thank you for your reply. I still have a few questions that I don’t
> quite understand. I’ve attached some screenshots. I am sorry, I forgot
> to include them in my previous message.
>
> > 5. Regarding the Landuse Table and Soil Table options, there are
> > several choices besides “Use CSV file.” Could you please explain
> > what each option means? Also, if you have an example of a CSV
> > file for either the landuse or soil table, could you please share it
> > with me?
> There are many options here. Although it’s possible to proceed without
> selecting a SSURGO table, I’d like to understand what each option
> specifically means.

> thumbnail_image004.pngthumbnail_image005.png

>
>  7.
> > We found that the ArcSWAT Pro interface is quite similar to QSWAT,
> > so we followed the QSWAT files as a reference. I would like to ask:
> > when using the Existing Stream option, should the shapefile’s
> > attribute table be organized in the same format as the one shown in
> > the attached screenshot? I tried it, but it still didn’t work.
> > Could you please share an example of a correct stream shapefile if
> > you have one? Also, if you have a standard example of a SSURGO file
> > with the proper attribute table format, I would greatly appreciate
> > it as well.
>  From the QSWAT documentation, I understand that using an existing
> stream requires creating several fields in the attribute table (as shown
> in the first screenshot). So, I prepared the table accordingly (as shown
> in the second screenshot). However, when I click “Delineate Watershed,”
> the button is unresponsive. Could you please tell me the correct format?

> Screenshot 2025-10-20 134139.pngScreenshot 2025-10-20 133910.png

>
> As for the SSURGO data, in the previous version, the SSURGO raster kept
> the original six-digit MUKEY values, but in the Pro version, it seems
> that it automatically converts them into three-digit numeric codes. I’ve
> tried a few methods to keep the original MUKEYs, but none of them worked
> (The first screenshot shows what my prepared SSURGO attribute table
> looks like, and the second one shows how it appears to be automatically
> generated in the Create HRU step after I select it.).If I keep the
> three-digit values, an error message appears, just like in the last
> screenshot. Is there any way to fix this?

> Screenshot 2025-10-20 135929.pngScreenshot 2025-10-20 135950.png

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