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 6,855 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 (205 items)

Oceans (92 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 (4 items)

Methods (4569 items)

Product types (4296 items)

Sciences (4204 items)

Time periods (37 items)

Topics (5376 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 (177 items)

Boundaries (58 items)

ClimatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere (294 items)

Economy (3 items)

Elevation (1704 items)

Environment (1901 items)

Farming (2 items)

GeoscientificInformation (4617 items)

Health (10 items)

ImageryBaseMapsEarthCover (1597 items)

InlandWaters (529 items)

Location (1162 items)

Oceans (5331 items)

PlanningCadastre (1 items)

Society (16 items)

Structure (47 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 (2572 items)

Data Content Types (1517 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 (1025 items)

Discipline (1255 items)

Feature type (1186 items)

Hot topics (820 items)

Research method (2067 items)