Metadata from the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program

Metadata document scientific data in a consistent structure and format.
Topical browse interfaces show what data we have, by scientific category.
Categories are hierarchical like a tree. Click them to find the ones you need.
There are 7,331 metadata records here.
A Complex Search is available.

Common geographic areas

Names and identifiers of commonly-known geographic areas including oceans, continents, countries, states and provinces in North America, counties in the United States, USGS map quadrangles, and hydrologic units, nested and cross-referenced by overlap.

Subtopics:

Land (333 items)

Oceans (203 items)

USGS Thesaurus

Topics and methods of scientific study carried out by USGS, with product types, scientific disciplines, geologic time, and types of institutional structure and activities. Broad and shallow, used to help people find scientific information.

Subtopics:

Institutional structures and activities (5 items)

Methods (4889 items)

Product types (4601 items)

Sciences (4592 items)

Time periods (39 items)

Topics (5826 items)

Alexandria Digital Library Feature Type Thesaurus

Types of named geographic features. Applicable also to many unnamed features but reflects the level of detail traditionally shown on maps, so some feature types specified in scientific studies may not be well represented here. Not highly specific.

Subtopics:

Physiographic features (4 items)

Regions (1 items)

ISO 19115 Topic Category

General subjects for which geospatial data may be relevant. Few, broad terms.

Subtopics:

Biota (189 items)

Boundaries (63 items)

ClimatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere (313 items)

Economy (3 items)

Elevation (1866 items)

Environment (2125 items)

Farming (2 items)

GeoscientificInformation (5033 items)

Health (11 items)

ImageryBaseMapsEarthCover (1779 items)

InlandWaters (551 items)

Location (1182 items)

Oceans (5594 items)

PlanningCadastre (1 items)

Society (20 items)

Structure (51 items)

Transportation (29 items)

UtilitiesCommunication (1 items)

Data Categories for Marine Planning

Categories spanning the breadth of information types required for ocean planning from a national, multidisciplinary perspective. Includes description, assessment, and prediction regarding governance, resources, uses, and infrastructure.

Subtopics:

Data Content Subjects (2822 items)

Data Content Types (1773 items)

Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) keywords

Theme keywords from the former Marine Realms Information Bank, focusing on characteristics of coasts and oceans, processes acting on them, and human concerns about them.

Subtopics:

Biota (15 items)

Coastal change hazards topics (1210 items)

Discipline (1308 items)

Feature type (1293 items)

Hot topics (1020 items)

Research method (2366 items)