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December 13, 2013

Security Vulnerability Addressed

Due to a security vulnerability, we can not accept the following characters in a URL:
%0D which represents a carriage return and
%0A which represents a line feed.

A recent security measure has made interpretation more strict and can therefore break old bookmarked queries.

Replacing all of the %0D %0A with commas, or correct URL encoding of %2C, fixes the "malformed" URL.

Here is an example of fixing a URL:

  • before
    • http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?multiple_site_no=303508097525399%0D%0A303443097502700%0D%0A303318097482000%0D%0A303209097473000%0D%0A303439097465000&sort_key=site_no&group_key=NONE&sitefile_output_format=html_table&column_name=agency_cd&column_name=site_no&column_name=station_nm&range_selection=days&period=7&format=gif_default&date_format=YYYY-MM-DD&rdb_compression=file&list_of_search_criteria=multiple_site_no%2Crealtime_parameter_selection
  • after
    • http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?multiple_site_no=303508097525399%2C303443097502700%2C303318097482000%2C303209097473000%2C303439097465000&sort_key=site_no&group_key=NONE&sitefile_output_format=html_table&column_name=agency_cd&column_name=site_no&column_name=station_nm&range_selection=days&period=7&format=gif_default&date_format=YYYY-MM-DD&rdb_compression=file&list_of_search_criteria=multiple_site_no%2Crealtime_parameter_selection

 

End of support for Internet Explorer versions 7 or earlier or issues related to Windows XP and earlier versions of Windows

The USGS no longer supports Internet Explorer (IE) 7 or earlier versions of IE on the waterdata.usgs.gov and waterservices.usgs.gov domains. Since the USGS was required to upgrade all of its Windows computers to Windows 7, there is no way to test fixes for these versions of IE. These versions of IE do not work with Windows 7 and later versions of Windows. The USGS cannot troubleshoot issues that appear only on Windows XP or earlier versions of Windows.

Internet Explorer users should consider upgrading their operating system. This will allow them to use a newer version of IE, which we support. To work around IE7 and IE8 quirks, users can use different browsers that work with Windows XP.

Users are encouraged to use the latest version of their browser of choice, as it is less likely that they will notice issues when using this web site. This site is adding useful features that depend on features in newer browsers. Consequently, with newer browsers users should have a more useful user interface and more satisfying experience.

National Water Information System Mapper (maps.waterdata.usgs.gov)

The mapper has been updated to consistently show active and inactive sites across the nation. This change will be rolled out in stages in the coming weeks as USGS water science centers update site status codes.

Previously, wide latitude was given to each USGS water science center to define whether or not a site was active. Now, standardized national criteria are being used.

A site is considered active if:

  • it has collected time-series (automated) data within the last 183 days (6 months)
  • it has collected discrete (manually collected) data within 397 days (13 months)

If it does not meet these criteria, it is considered inactive.

Some exceptions apply. If a site is flagged by a USGS water science center as discontinued, it will show as inactive. A USGS science center can also flag a new site as active even if it has not collected any data.

Water Data for the Nation (waterdata.usgs.gov)

This release fixed numerous bugs and added some minor enhancements.

  • The page which allows users to subscribe and unsubscribe to USGS water data system alerts now works properly again. (PR 30614)
  • The same feedback form can no longer be submitted repeatedly. Users may still encounter slow processing of feedback queries. This is due to slowness in the USGS Answers system. Please be patient while your form processes. (PR 30321)
  • Daily mean statistics for "leap days" (years in which February 29 occurs) are now shown in graphs. (PR 27780)
  • Graphs of instantaneous data where values for today should be on the graph by default now appear. (PR 30538)
  • Certain graphs of groundwater were not showing labels for the secondary Y axis. This has been fixed. (PR 30523)
  • Fields will appear or disappear in the predefined display bar based on the predefined display wanted. (PR 7640)
  • Precipitation counts now correctly include 0.00 precipitation values (PR 28465)
  • USGS territories like Northern Mariana Island where no sites exist for certain data categories now show 0 sites instead of ??? (PR 28382)
  • New parameter code added: 32318 - Chlorophylls, water, in situ, fluorometric method, excitation at 470 +-15 nm, emission at 685 +-20 nm, micrograms per liter
  • Current conditions image is now responsive. Text to its right will move underneath it rather than hide parts of the image. (PR 30409)
  • Latitude/longitude box now accepts input when used with groundwater levels searches. (PR 30411)

Mobile USGS Water Data for the Nation (m.waterdata.usgs.gov)

  • Fixed a bug on some Android phones which did not return the location of the device

USGS Water Services (waterservices.usgs.gov)

All four web services have been updated to apply the new criteria for identifying sites as active or inactive. You can continue to use the URL argument siteStatus=active or siteStatus=inactive, but the resulting list of sites returned may be different than those provided in the past.