Sources & Credits

Every number ANKR shows comes from a public agency. Here's who they are and what they power.

A note of thanks

Before ANKR, I spent my career in the U.S. Air Force doing vulnerability and risk assessment. That work taught me one thing over and over: a decision is only as good as the data under it, and good data doesn't happen by accident. Someone has to install the gauge, maintain it through the storm, check the reading, and publish it so the rest of us can act on it.

The public servants at the agencies below do that every day, mostly without thanks. Their open APIs let a small team like ours give boaters, anglers, and families an honest read on the water. We don't invent readings, we don't fill in gaps with guesses, and when an agency hasn't published a value we say "no data." That honesty is only possible because these agencies publish the real thing.

To every hydrologist, forecaster, technician, and developer behind these feeds: thank you. ANKR stands on your work.

— Michael Campbell, founder of ANKR

Agencies & data

National Weather Service (NWS) · NOAA

Powers: Current observations (temperature, wind, gusts, visibility), hourly forecasts (rain chance), and active hazard alerts. Feeds the Weather, Safety and Visibility parts of the Anchor Score.
Update cadence: Station observations about hourly (some more often), forecast grids several times a day, alerts as they're issued.
Terms: U.S. Government open data, free to use with no key. Clients have to identify themselves with a User-Agent header. Data is provided as-is.
Link: weather.gov API documentation

Iowa Environmental Mesonet (Iowa State University) · NWS NEXRAD & NOAA HRRR

Powers: The Guide map's radar overlay: past and current NWS NEXRAD composite reflectivity (5-minute frames, last hour), and future frames from the NOAA High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model's forecast reflectivity, up to 18 hours ahead. Forecast frames are a model simulation, not observed radar.
Terms: IEM materials are in the public domain and may be used freely for any lawful purpose; attribution to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University is appreciated.
Link: IEM tile services · IEM usage terms · NOAA HRRR

NWS National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) · wind

Powers: The Guide map's WIND overlay: hourly forecast wind speed, direction and gusts (now to +18 h) from api.weather.gov gridpoints, shown as arrows in knots and mph. US only.
Terms: NWS data are U.S. Government works in the public domain; NWS asks API users to identify their application.
Link: weather.gov API · NWS disclaimer

FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL)

Powers: The Guide map's FLOOD ZONES overlay (Flood Hazard Zones such as A, AE and shaded X), shown semi-transparent at street-level zoom.
Terms: FEMA data are U.S. Government works in the public domain. The overlay is for awareness only and is not for insurance or legal determinations; official determinations come from the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Link: FEMA NFHL services · FEMA Map Service Center

Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) · aquifers

Powers: The AQUIFERS overlay's Texas layer: the 9 major and 22 minor aquifers of Texas.
Terms: Free public TWDB GIS data, released on condition that neither TWDB nor the State of Texas is liable for its use. TWDB may revise the data, and aquifer data are for regional-scale use, not individual sites.
Link: TWDB GIS data

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) · Principal Aquifers

Powers: The AQUIFERS overlay's nationwide layer: the shallowest principal aquifers of the United States by rock type (Ground Water Atlas, 1:2,500,000; ANKR serves a simplified copy).
Terms: USGS data are U.S. Government works in the public domain. Regional boundaries, not site-specific.
Link: USGS Principal Aquifers

NOAA Aviation Weather Center

Powers: Nearby airport METAR observations, used as a local observation cross-check.
Update cadence: Hourly routine reports, plus special reports when conditions change.
Terms: U.S. Government public data, free to use.
Link: aviationweather.gov Data API

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) · Water Data

Powers: Lake and river water-surface elevation and short-term level trends at streamgages (for example Lake Travis, Lake LBJ, and the Colorado River gauges).
Update cadence: Usually 15-minute readings, transmitted every 1–4 hours.
Terms: U.S. Government public domain. Recent data is provisional and may be revised.
Link: USGS Water Services

Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) · Lower Colorado Region

Powers: Reservoir elevations and level trends for Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, Lake Havasu and Lake Moovalya, from the Hydrologic Database (HDB) and RISE.
Update cadence: Hourly and daily values, depending on the series.
Terms: U.S. Government public domain. Data is provisional and subject to revision. USBR publishes storage for these lakes, not a "% full" figure, so ANKR shows "no data" for % full there rather than computing its own.
Link: USBR Lower Colorado river operations · RISE

Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) · Water Data for Texas

Powers: Official reservoir "% full" (conservation storage as a share of conservation capacity) for Lake Travis, Lake LBJ, Canyon Lake, Medina Lake and Lake Austin, shown on Channel 4.11. TWDB rating surveys also inform our datum notes.
Update cadence: Daily averages.
Terms: Free public data from the State of Texas. TWDB describes its values as best estimates built from several data providers and makes no warranties. ANKR shows them exactly as published.
Link: waterdatafortexas.org

OpenStreetMap contributors & Leaflet

Powers: Base maps and map rendering in the Anchor Guides and Compass.
Update cadence: Updated continuously by volunteer mappers.
Terms: Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database License (ODbL). Leaflet is BSD-2-Clause licensed.
Link: openstreetmap.org/copyright · leafletjs.com

How ANKR uses this data

Values are shown with their source and timestamp. Missing values are labeled "no data" and are never estimated. The Anchor Score is capped below 100 and scaled down when any input is missing. ANKR is for information only. Always check official alerts, closures and navigation hazards before you head out.

Agency names are used only to credit them. No agency endorses ANKR.