USGS Science Data Catalog API (BETA)

Search Service Documentation

  1. Overview
  2. Understanding REST URL
  3. Try it yourself
  4. Available Search Fields
  5. Quick Search Snippet
  6. Web Services

Overview

The USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC) is a tool for discovery of public USGS Datasets through text-based search; keyword, mission area, data source, and scientist faceting; and GIS-based search mechanisms. Developed by USGS Core Science Analytics, Synthesis, and Libraries program, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Mercury Consortium.

Understanding SDC URL

SDC URL:
https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq='SDC Field'':Your search term&q=*%3A*
"SDC Field" could be substituted by any field listed below.

Example:
https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=placeKey:colorado&q=*:*

Try it yourself


Hint: Wildcards and phrases are allowed. ex: precipitation or rain* or "weather data"

Available Search Fields

SDC FieldFull NameUsage Example
abstract Abstract https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=abstract:"Landsat Thematic Mapper"&q=*:*
author Author https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=author:"Steven E. Hanser"&q=*:*
author_lname Author Last name https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=author_lname:*smith*&q=*:*
beginDate Data Begin Date https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=beginDate:"1982-08-27T00:00:00Z"&q=*:*
collection_id Collection ID https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=collection_id:"Water_National_Spatial_Data_Infrastructure_Node"&q=*:*
contactOrganization Contact Organization https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=contactOrganization:*Geological*&q=*:*
datasourceData Providerhttps://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=datasource:"Water National Spatial Data Infrastructure Node"&q=*:*
data_url Data URL https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=data_url:*woodshole*&q=*:*
data_url_format Data Format https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=data_url_format:*zip*&q=*:*
dataTypeData Typehttps://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=dataType:collection&q=*%3A*
decade year range, Example: 1990 - 1910 https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=decade:"1970 to 1979"&q=*:*
direct Geospatial reference method https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=direct:vector&q=*:*
eaover Entity and Attribute (Overview) https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=eaover:*bathymetry*&q=*:*
endDate Data End Date https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=endDate:"1982-09-16T00:00:00Z"&q=*:*
enttypl Entity Type https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=enttypl:l1182cs.m77t&q=*:*
fullText Entire XML document https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=fullText:"bald eagle"&q=*:*<
isSpatial Boolean: Global or Not https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=isSpatial:false&q=*:*
keywords Keywords https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=keywords:"Magnetic Anomalies"&q=*:*
metd Metadata Date https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=metd:"2014-09-11T00:00:00Z"&q=*:*
Mission AreaMission Areahttps://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=missionarea:Ecosystems&q=*%3A*
network_url Data URL or Services URL https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=network_url:*waterdata.usgs.gov*&q=*:*
noBoundingBox Boolean: Bounding box or Point https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=noBoundingBox:false&q=*:*
origin Originator (person OR responsible Org) https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=origin:"u.s. geological survey"&q=*:*
originator Originator (Normalized) https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=originator:"USGS"&q=*:*
placeKey Place Keyword https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=placeKey:colorado&q=*:*
presentationCat Geo form https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=presentationCat:*ASCII*&q=*:*
procdate Process Dates https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=procdate:20080805&q=*:*
procdesc Process Description https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=procdesc:*imported*&q=*:*
pubDate Publication Date https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=pubDate:*2013*&q=*:*
purpose Purpose https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=purpose:"earth elevation map of the gateway national recreation"&q=*:*
spref Spatial Reference https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=spref:north american vertical datum of 1988&q=*:*
title Title https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=title:"Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON)"&q=*:*
update_dateUpdate Datehttps://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=update_date:2016-01-30T04:02:32Z&q=*:*
web_url First Data or Network URL https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=web_url:*www.ngdc.noaa.gov*&q=*:*
Spatial Fields
northBoundCoord Float: North coordinate https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=northBoundCoord:90&q=*:*
southBoundCoord Float: South coordinate https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=southBoundCoord:\-90&q=*:*
eastBoundCoord Float: East coordinate https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=eastBoundCoord:180&q=*:*
westBoundCoord Float: West coordinate https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=westBoundCoord:\-180&q=*:*
geo Bouding box or point location https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/#fq=geo%3A%22intersects%28POLYGON%28%28-115.10999999999999%2031.049999999999876%2C-108.75999999999901%2031.049999999999876%2C-108.75999999999901%2037.289999999999665%2C-115.10999999999999%2037.289999999999665%2C-115.10999999999999%2031.049999999999876%29%29%29%22&q=*%3A*

Quick Search Snippet

Copy/Paste the code below to include SDC "Quick Search" snippet on your website:

Web Services

Users can search SDC holdings via a REST based Web service. To invoke the Web service, simply add/replace the query parameter (fq) with any of the above defined SDC fields. Here is an example:
https://usgs.ornl.gov/sdcsolr/core1/select?fq=title:*Colorado*&q=*:*&start=0&rows=10&wt=xslt&tr=example_rss.xsl

Search response is in the ATOM XML format. Any RSS reader can be used to view the response or a custom view can be created from the response.