GISDATA.USGS_streamgaging_stations

Metadata also available as

Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

    Title: GISDATA.USGS_streamgaging_stations
    Abstract:
    Approximately 5,000 of the 6,900 U.S. Geological Survey sampling stations are equipped with telemetry to transmit data on streamflow, temperature, and other parameters back to a data base for real-time viewing via the World Wide Web. A map of the realtime stations is produced every day.
    Supplemental_Information: None.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, Updated daily, see item line in coverage., GISDATA.USGS_streamgaging_stations: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -164.171051
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -64.779716
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 70.281105
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 17.729393

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: Updated daily, see item line in coverage.
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Entity point (7286)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Resolution: 1.000000
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    GISDATA.USGS_streamgaging_stations

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    GISDATA.USGS_streamgaging_stations.AREA
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    PERIMETER

    REALSTX_

    REALSTX_ID

    STAID

    STANAME

    ST

    HUC

    CLASS

    FLOW

    TIME

    LATDD

    LONDD

    URL

    WORKA

    DATUMOLD

    COUNT

    PERCENTILE

    LONDDNEW

    LATDDNEW

    DATUMNEW

    SHAPE
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Each USGS station contains a unique identification number up to 18-digits long. The URL represents the most recent known location for accessing the real-time data for the station.

    > REALSTX.PAT: > COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC ALTERNATE NAME > 1 AREA 4 12 F 3 > 5 PERIMETER 4 12 F 3 > 9 REALSTX# 4 5 B - > 13 REALSTX-ID 4 5 B - > 17 STAID 15 15 C - > 32 STANAME 50 50 C - > 82 ST 2 2 C - > 84 HUC 8 8 C - > 92 CLASS 4 5 B - > 96 FLOW 4 12 F 2 > 100 TIME 35 35 C - > 135 LATDD 4 10 F 6 > 139 LONDD 4 11 F 6 > 143 URL 150 150 C - > 293 WORKA 4 5 B - > 297 DATUMOLD 10 10 C - > 307 LONDDNEW 4 10 F 4 > 311 LATDDNEW 4 10 F 4 > 315 DATUMNEW 10 10 C -

    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: none


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Water Webserver Team
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 439
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    1-800-426-9000 (voice)
    h2oteam@usgs.gov

    Contact_Instructions: Please use email.


Why was the data set created?

The primary purpose of this coverage is to produce an imagemap for use on the World Wide Web.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: Updated daily, see item line in coverage. (process 1 of 5)
    Each USGS District Office serves the realtime data of the stations it services. A list of these pages may be seen at <http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html> Every District realtime page (some have several pages) contains a list of the stations for which realtime data are available and a link to the data for each station.

    Every hour, an automatic process retrieves the realtime pages from each District and parses them to find the stations served and the URL for each station's data. The station numbers on this list are matched against a master list of USGS stations to find the station name and the latitude/longitude of each realtime station. This information is used to prepare an updated point coverage.

    CLASS values for the flow are: &gt; le 0 Not valid (internal use) &gt; 1 New minimum &gt; 2 ge old minimum and le 5th percentile &gt; 3 gt 5th percentile and le 10th percentile &gt; 4 gt 10th percentile and le 25th percentile &gt; 5 gt 25th percentile and le 75th percentile &gt; 6 gt 75th percentile and le 90th percentile &gt; 7 gt 90th percentile and le old maximum &gt; 8 New maximum

    (process 2 of 5)
    Metadata imported.

    Data sources used in this process:

    • C:\Workspace2\realstx_text.xml

    (process 3 of 5)
    Dataset copied.

    (process 4 of 5)
    Dataset copied.

    Date: 07-May-2004 (process 5 of 5)
    Dataset reprojected and loaded into ArcSDE geodatabase.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Brandon League

    bleague@utk.edu

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Latitudes and Longitude are specified to the nearest second. The position is determined from 1:24,000-scale maps, where available, but other lower scale (i.e. less resolution) maps may be used also.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    This coverage includes only those stations with data actually being served on the WWW at the time of compilation. Some stations -- and sometimes whole states -- may be excluded because of temporary webserver or network problems. In addition, a station with data may not be shown on the map if its name and location are not yet in the master list.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    All locations are points.


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: None

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    U.S. Geological Survey
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 439
    Reston, VA 20192
    USA

    1-800-426-9000 (voice)
    h2oteam@usgs.gov

    Contact_Instructions: Please use email.
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    None.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 07-May-2004

Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o REQUIRED: The person responsible for the metadata information.
4821 Quail Crest Place
Lawrence, KS 66049
USA

1-785-832-3528 (voice)
dwolock@usgs.gov

Contact_Instructions: Please use email.
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:


Generated by mp version 2.7.33 on Mon May 17 23:39:35 2004