This tool can be used to assign the Shreve stream magnitude to each link in a stream network. Stream ordering is often used in hydro-geomorphic and ecological studies to quantify the relative size and importance of a stream segment to the overall river system. There are several competing stream ordering schemes. Shreve stream magnitude is equal to the number of headwater links upstream of each link. Headwater stream links are assigned a magnitude of one.

The user must input a streams raster image (`streams_raster`) and D8 pointer (flow direction) image (`d8_pntr`). Stream cells are designated in the streams raster as all positive, nonzero values. Thus all non-stream or background grid cells are commonly assigned either zeros or NoData values. The pointer image is used to traverse the stream network and should only be created using the D8 algorithm. Background cells will be assigned the NoData value in the output image, unless the user specifies `zero_background=True`, in which case non-stream cells will be assigned zero values in the output.

By default, the pointer raster is assumed to use the clockwise indexing method used by WhiteboxTools. If the pointer file contains ESRI flow direction values instead, the user should specify `esri_pntr=True`.

## Reference Shreve, R. L. (1966). Statistical law of stream numbers. The Journal

of Geology, 74(1), 17-37.

## See Also

horton_stream_order, hack_stream_order, strahler_stream_order, topological_stream_order

## Function Signature

`def shreve_stream_magnitude(self, d8_pntr: Raster, streams_raster: Raster, esri_pntr: bool = False, zero_background: bool = False) -> Raster: ...`

## Project Links

WbW Homepage User Manual Support WbW