Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Finding Data in ScienceBase

Learn more about finding data in ScienceBase, including navigating search & filter features.

ScienceBase and Data Release Overview 

ScienceBase (SB) is recognized as a USGS Trusted Digital Repository. ScienceBase is an online data platform that can provide shared, permission-controlled access to scientific data products and bureau resources. It’s designed to add value to data by exposing well-organized, documented datasets over the web. Content is stored within a standardized item model that has a consistent set of fields (e.g., title, abstract, keywords, etc.). 

ScienceBase contains many USGS resources but is best known for maintaining a collection of USGS data releases. Data releases are defined as USGS data products that have been reviewed and approved through the USGS process and have been additionally curated and tagged by the ScienceBase data release team. USGS data releases include data that was funded and released by USGS, so data products funded by universities or other organizations are not included in this collection.

Tour of a ScienceBase Landing Page 

ScienceBase data release landing pages all have the same structure, with a consistent set of fields. We’ll take a look at this data release: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9TI6MK3 to get an idea of some useful features on a landing page. 

First, you’ll notice that the above link resolves to a ScienceBase landing page that has a different URL: 

https://doi.org/10.5066/P9TI6MK3 leads to https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5cae288ce4b0c3b00654ce16  

The first link beginning with https://doi.org/ is a digital object identifier (DOI). DOIs are unique, persistent identifiers assigned to a specific work, like a data release. DOIs make for more persistent links, since you can always change the URL that a DOI points to in order to update the location of the data release or other specific work. You can learn more about DOIs on the USGS Data Management Website

Data release landing pages in ScienceBase will start with a title at the top of the page, relevant dates below the title, a suggested citation for the data release, a summary, and contacts. On the right-hand side of the page, a map of the study area and/or a relevant photo can be displayed as an optional feature. 

Screenshot of a ScienceBase landing page
Screenshot of a ScienceBase landing page

TRY IT: Explore these data release landing pages to see how they are organized: 

https://doi.org/10.5066/F73F4MRV 

https://doi.org/10.5066/F7MC8XHX 

https://doi.org/10.5066/F70Z71JH 

Information about the data release such as data collection and processing details, intended audience and purpose, and details relating to the structure of the data files will be contained in the .xml metadata file. You can download the metadata file by click on it or viewing it in your browser by clicking the blue “View” button to the right of the metadata. 

You can also download data files in the same way, either by clicking the “download all files” link, or by clicking on the hyperlinked text of an individual data file. 

Screenshot showing download options in ScienceBase
Screenshot showing download options in ScienceBase

TRY IT: View or download the .xml metadata record for this data release and find the following information about the dataset: 

  1. What was the purpose for this data release? 

  1. What time period does the data cover? 

  1. Find a definition for the attribute label/column header “Treatment”. 

On some landing pages (example: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9I9KXVM), spatial services are available. The URLs here (WMS = Web Map Service; WCS = Web Coverage Service) can be used with online mapping services like ArcGIS Online to programmatically access the data. 

Screenshot of spatial services on a ScienceBase landing page
Screenshot of spatial services on a ScienceBase landing page
TRY IT: Visit ArcGIS Online, and log-in or create an account (a “public account” is free). Once logged in, choose Map from the top menu, and select Add Layer > Add Layer from URL. Insert the WMS URL from the ScienceBase landing page and select to add all layers. Zoom in on the data points and explore! 

Lastly, notice the tags section on the right-hand side of the landing page: 

Screenshot of a ScienceBase landing page with the tags section underlined
Screenshot of a ScienceBase landing page with the tags section underlined

These tags are normally descriptive of the subject, place, or category in which the data falls. You can click on any tag to see other search results that are tagged with the same term. 

TRY IT: Can you find other data tagged with “Coconut Rhinoceros beetle”? 

Searching on ScienceBase 

From the ScienceBase Catalog homepage, you can search on a main topic of interest: 

Screenshot of the ScienceBase Homepage
Screenshot of the ScienceBase homepage, showing a photo of mountains and a search box.

TRY IT: Search “forest conservation” using the main search bar. 

  1. How many results do you see?

Use the Filters on left side to refine your search by category (data) and type (map service):

Screenshot of ScienceBase's search filter options
Screenshot of ScienceBase's search filter options

TRY IT: After refining your search by the above category and type: 

  1. How many results do you see now? 

  1. Try filtering by date range. 

  1. Try filtering to only show Downloadable data. 

You can also use Advanced Search to narrow to a specific area of interest. 

Screenshot of advanced search option in ScienceBase
Screenshot of advanced search option in ScienceBase

You can search by a specific place using the “Search by place” filter: 

Screenshot of filter by place feature in ScienceBase
Screenshot of filter by place feature in ScienceBase

TRY IT: Search “Hawaii” in the “Search by place” filter. 

  1. How does the bounding area (the highlighted blue section) differ for each option?

Search a community:

Screenshot of search by community feature in ScienceBase
Screenshot of search by community feature in ScienceBase

When you complete a search, the URL for the search results page will include the query parameters that you used: 

Screenshot of query parameters in ScienceBase
Screenshot of query parameters in ScienceBase

You can then use these URLs to go directly to the precise search you just completed. 

Some other example queries: 

When you have the search results you’d like to explore, you can download the results in JSON, ATOM, or CSV format at the bottom of the filter menu: 

Screenshot of download options for ScienceBase search results
Screenshot of download options for ScienceBase search results
TRY IT: Download your current search results in a CSV format, and try opening the file in Excel. 

 

Was this page helpful?