ScienceBase Updates - Winter 2024

This change streamlines the login process for users. The new login method matches the one used in ScienceBase’s File Manager, the feature that allows users to upload files directly to cloud storage and publish to S3. Users who log in to ScienceBase are now automatically logged in to File Manager at the same time. 

Authentication for API use 

The elimination of Active Directory (AD) passwords has required updates to the ScienceBase Python and R libraries. The ScienceBase team has worked with maintainers for both sciencebasepy (Python) and sbtools (R) to coordinate new version releases. If you use these libraries in your ScienceBase workflows, please update your local copies to the latest versions.

For the near future, login with password will still work for connecting to the ScienceBase API (although users will still need to update their local Python or R ScienceBase libraries to handle changes). However, many users have already had their passwords removed from AD. All users should plan for password-less authentication with the eventual elimination of passwords from AD and should begin to update code accordingly. The latest releases of the R and Python libraries for ScienceBase now support a multi-factor approach for obtaining an API token and using it instead of a password.

If you’d like to adopt this approach early, you can obtain API tokens by logging in to File Manager (https://sciencebase.usgs.gov/manager) and selecting “Copy API Token”: 

Within a Python script, you can use the sciencebasepy function sb.get_token() to open a browser window directly to the File Manager and the option to “Copy API Token”. You can then use sb.add_token(token) to start your session. For example:  

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If you have questions about these changes or would like to request assistance with a programmatic connection using MFA, please contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.  

Featured Data Release

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Change in total wildland-urban interface (WUI) area (intermix and interface combined) mapped by the building-based method relative to census block-based WUI area, as percent difference, for each circular neighborhood size used to aggregate building locations and vegetation. Results are plotted by state to show important geographic patterns in the differences between the building-based and census-based approaches, in which the building-based approach resulted in the greatest increases in WUI area in the north-central states (Carlson and others, 2022)

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where cities or towns meet or mix with wildland vegetation. Identifying these areas can be especially important for assessing wildfire risk, as housing near the WUI is particularly vulnerable to wildfire. A recent data release on ScienceBase created new WUI maps for the conterminous United States. These maps integrate detailed building point data from a satellite imagery dataset produced by Microsoft and vegetation data from the 2016 National Land Cover Dataset, also available through ScienceBase.
 

This data release highlights the value and practicality of integrating and reusing data, merging freely accessible information from Microsoft with previously published data on ScienceBase. The data release landing page in ScienceBase has been accessed over 17,000 times, and its files downloaded over 5,000 times (according to the SBDR Dashboard) since its publication in 2022.
 

Carlson, A.R., Helmers, D.P., Hawbaker, T.J., Mockrin, M.H., and Radeloff, V.C., 2022, Wildland-urban interface maps for the conterminous U.S. based on 125 million building locations: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P94BT6Q7.
 

Carlson, A.R., Helmers, D.P., Hawbaker, T.J., Mockrin, M.H., Radeloff, V.S., 2022, The wildland-urban interface in the United States based on 125 million building locations. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2597.
 

Did You Know? My Items and Shortcuts 

The “My Items” section in Sciencebase is a personal workspace for users. It allows folks to create new items, manage shortcuts, and share their data products with selected other users. These features can help you make the most of Sciencebase as a platform for your scientific research. 

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Creating an item in My Items 

One of the main features of Sciencebase is the ability to create items, which are collections of metadata and data files that describe your research. Items can be organized into folders, subfolders, and projects, and can be linked to other items or external resources. To create an item, click on “My Items” in the top banner. Select “Add” dropdown menu in the top right corner of the page, then “Add Child Item,” located in the navigation bar:

This opens a menu with three options: “Create New Record”, “Import File(s)”, or “Import URL”. The first option leads to an empty form for manual metadata entry and data upload. The second option lets users upload a metadata file which can auto populate the form. **Users who want to create an item for a ScienceBase data release should use the Sciencebase Data Release Tool** 

Adding a shortcut

Sometimes, you may want easy access an item from another Sciencebase folder or project that is not yours. For example, you may want to use a dataset from a collaborator or a public item from the Sciencebase Catalog. Instead of looking for the item every time, you can add a shortcut to it in your “My Items” section. A shortcut is a link that shows up as a child item in your folder. It does not copy or move the original item. It just lets you access it quickly and easily. To do this, find the item you would like to shortcut. Scroll down to “Item Actions” at the bottom of the page to find “Add Shortcut to…”. Then, select “My Items” as the destination.  

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The shortcut will be displayed in a list of child items in your “My Items” folder with an italicized title and a link icon.

Sharing an item

One of the benefits of using Sciencebase is that you can share your data and information with other users or groups. Sharing an item allows you to collaborate with others on your research, get feedback, or disseminate your results. While you cannot make an item public when it is in the “My Items” folder, you can share it with others. 

To share personal items from the “My Items” section in Sciencebase, you can follow these steps:  

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1. Navigate to the item you want to share in your “My Items”.
2. Click on the “Manage” drop-down menu located in the top right corner of the page.
3. Select “Manage Item Permissions” from the drop-down menu.
4. In the “Manage Item Permissions” window, you can add users or groups with whom you want to share the item.
5. You can also specify the level of access you want to grant to the users or groups you added.
6. Once you have added the users or groups and specified their access level, click on the “Save” button to save your changes.