delineator
Open Source
Fast global watershed delineation in Python — the MERIT-Hydro engine behind the Global Watersheds web app.
pysheds
StableWatershed delineation in pure Python — DEM conditioning to catchment boundary in a dozen lines.
- Pricing
- Open Source
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Python, NumPy
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
Install
pip install pyshedsAbout pysheds
pysheds implements the core DEM hydrology chain — pit filling, depression resolution, flow direction (D8 and D-infinity), flow accumulation, catchment delineation, and distance-to-outlet — as a NumPy/Numba-accelerated Python library with a deliberately small API. Read a DEM, snap a pour point, extract a catchment: about ten lines.
For embedding delineation inside a larger Python application or batch-processing hundreds of outlets, pysheds is the lightest-weight serious option. It doesn't try to be a full terrain suite (no breaching, no lidar); WhiteboxTools complements it where conditioning gets difficult.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Appears in collections
- FOSS Python Tools for Flood Modelling
Open-source Python packages that cover the flood workflow — from DEM to inundation map.
Alternatives to pysheds
Ranked by the topics, categories and workflow stages they share with pysheds.
WhiteboxTools
Open SourceVerified
500+ fast geospatial analysis tools with the best DEM hydrology toolkit in open source.
HydroMT
Open Source
Deltares' Python framework that builds ready-to-run hydrological models from global and local datasets.
Arc Hydro
Free
Esri's free hydrology framework for ArcGIS Pro — terrain preprocessing and the data model behind many agency workflows.
GRASS GIS
Open Source
Four decades of geospatial engineering — r.watershed and the most battle-tested hydrology modules in GIS.
HydroSHEDS
Free
The global hydrography reference — basins, river networks, lakes and hydro-environmental attributes, free.