Past news of relevance
Users of this site now have the enhanced ability to retrieve recently collected provisional water-quality sample data. Previously, data were shown on this site only after an annual quality-assurance review period had passed. Because of this more timely release of the water-quality sample data, provisional data may be subsequently revised after initial release, and data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences.
- New descriptive attributes were added to the presentation of water-quality data, and some less useful, previously supplied attributes were removed. Users are given an option of selecting an expanded set of data attributes or a "default" (smaller) set of attributes. When retrieving tab-delimited data, users also have a layout option to represent each row as a sample or each row as a single measurement result. Not all attributes are available in each retrieval layout. The attributes are listed in the table 1.
- Table 1.--Availability of water-quality attributes in tab-delimited files presented in sample and result layouts and default and expanded sets of attributes.
["-" indicates the attribute is not presented in this format. "X" indicates the attribute is presented in both default and expanded sets, "/" indicates the attribute is presented only in the expanded set. "\" indicates the attribute is presented in the expanded attribute set or concatenated with the value unless the value is separated from the remark code. New attributes in this release are annotated with an asterisk.
See also, descriptions of coded attributes_______________________________________________________________________________ ---- File ---- Table Attribute information Column name Result Sample _______________________________________________________________________________ Agency Code agency_cd X X X USGS site number site_no X X X Begin date sample_dt X X X Begin time sample_tm X X X End date* sample_end_dt X X X End time* sample_end_tm X X X Time datum* sample_start_time_datum_cd X X X Time datum reliability code* tm_datum_rlbty_cd X X X Agency collecting sample code coll_ent_cd X X X Sample medium code medium_cd X X X Project identifier* project_cd / / / Geologic unit code* aqfr_cd / / / Taxonomic unit code* tu_id X X X Body-part code* body_part_id X X X Analysis-source code anl_src_cd / / / Hydrologic-condition code hyd_cond_cd / / / Sample-type code samp_type_cd / / / Hydrologic-event code hyd_event_cd / / / Message from lab* sample_lab_cm_tx / / / Parameter code parm_cd X X X Remark code remark_cd X X X Parameter value result_va X X X Result value qualifier codes* val_qual_tx X \ / Method code meth_cd X - - Data-quality indicator code* dqi_cd X - - Reporting level* rpt_lev_va X - - Reporting-level type code* rpt_lev_cd X - - Lab standard deviation* lab_std_va X - - Preparation set identifier* prep_set_no / - - Result preparation date* prep_dt / - - Analysis set number* anl_set_no / - - Result analysis date* anl_dt / - - Lab result comment* result_lab_cm_tx / - - Analyzing entity code anl_ent_cd X - - ______________________________________________________________________________
- Other new retrieval options include the ability to retrieve sampling date and time in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) or in the time zone used by the sampling personnel. When all results for a sample are retrieved on each output row, the user has the option to segregate remark codes from numeric values in separate columns, facilitating ease of use of the retrieved data with other software.
- Are you looking to regularly retrieve information from the this site system? If so, then this new FAQ can help lead you in the right direction to effectively obtaining your information with minimal disruption of web services for everyone.
