ScienceBase Data Release Summary Dashboard - About
This summary dashboard aggregates information about USGS science centers' ScienceBase data releases. The dashboard uses cached information, retrieved every 15 minutes from ScienceBase, to generate the values and graphs shown. Web analytics, such as the number of views and data downloads, are retrieved once per day. A timestamp is provided below each section to show when cached data were last retrieved from ScienceBase.
Table of Contents
Data Releases at a Glance
This section of the dashboard provides a quick look at the breakdown of data releases by USGS Mission Area and by USGS Region and Science Center. USGS recently moved from seven mission areas to five mission areas; however, all seven mission areas are still shown on this dashboard as a historical record of the funding sources for these data releases. Likewise, the USGS Region and Science Center sunburst chart includes science centers that have been deprecated. These data are updated every 15 minutes.
Data Releases by Science Center
By default, the dashboard displays summary information for all the organizational entities on this list. These entities are available for selection in the dashboard's dropdown menu. You can use the dropdown menu to filter by a science center of interest. The list contains both programs and science centers; however, each data release is associated with one and only one entity from this list. For example, data releases affiliated with the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program will be associated with one of the three science centers funded by that program: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Data Release Details
This section provides a table of the data releases for either (1) all participating science centers or (2) the center that was selected from the dropdown menu in the previous section. The table includes web analytics for each data release and is sorted by default by total file downloads. Information in this table can be filtered by date range. By default, the start date is the publication date of the first published data release in ScienceBase and the end date is the current day. The underlying data for this section are cached and processed daily because of the time that it takes to generate this data table. If a new data release is published after the cached data are retrieved for the day, the title will appear in the table, but the rest of the fields will display as null values until the next day.
Definitions
Total Data Releases Published: The complete count of data releases in ScienceBase. This count can be filtered by individual science center, based on user selection. Data releases will be included in the filtered count if they display the selected science center as the "SDC Data Owner" in the "Contacts" section the landing page. This count is updated every 15 minutes. “View these data releases in ScienceBase” will take you to the search interface in ScienceBase. From there, you can see and filter a live list of the total data releases published.
Current Data Releases In Progress: The complete count of data releases in ScienceBase that have a “Data Release – In Progress” tag. The count can be filtered by science center. In-progress data releases will be included in the filtered count if they display the selected science center as the “SDC Data Owner” in either the “Contacts” section or in the “Identifiers” section of the landing page. This count is updated every 15 minutes. In-progress data releases will not show up in this query if they do not have the proper tags and identifiers. This is usually the case when a data release is not started through the ScienceBase Data Release Tool.
Total Data Releases Published by Fiscal Year: The complete count of data releases in ScienceBase plotted by the fiscal year in which they were published. The count can be filtered by science center. The fiscal year begins October 1st and ends September 30th. This chart is updated every 15 minutes.
Number of Data Releases (within Filtered Date Range): The complete count of data releases in ScienceBase with a publication date that falls within the selected date range. This count will be for either (1) all participating science centers or (2) the center that was selected from the dropdown menu in the previous section. This count is updated every 15 minutes. The “Filter with more options in ScienceBase” link below the data table will take you to the search interface in ScienceBase. From there, you can see and filter a live list of the data releases published within the selected date range.
Data Release Details: This data table provides a list of the published ScienceBase data releases
for the selected Science Center and within the selected date range.
The underlying data are cached and processed daily because of the time that it takes to generate this data table.
A description of each of the columns of the data table is provided below.
- Title: The name displayed on the data release landing page.
- Originator / Author: The people or organizations responsible for the intellectual work of a data release. This field is pulled from the Contacts section of the data release landing page. The field will display contacts that have the type "Originator" or "Author."
- Publication Date: The date that the data release was finalized and published by the ScienceBase data release team. The publication date is pulled from the Dates section on the date release landing page.
- Digital Object Identifier (DOI): The persistent identifier that provides direct access to the ScienceBase data release landing page. The DOI is listed on the ScienceBase landing page under the “Identifiers” section.
- Landing Page Visits: The total number of browser visits to the data release landing page. This number does not include requests made by APIs. Nor does it include visits to child pages within a data release.*
- Total File Downloads: The total number of downloads for all files attached to a data release product. This download number includes files on the landing page and any nested pages.*
* To see more detailed usage metrics for a given data release or its child items, visit the item metrics page in
ScienceBase by using the ‘item ID’. For example, https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/metrics/INSERT ITEM ID HERE.
The 'item ID' is the unique identifier in the ScienceBase URL. For example, the item ID is
‘58937d08e4b0fa1e59b7372a' in the following URL:
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/58937d08e4b0fa1e59b7372a.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between ScienceBase and the Science Data Catalog?
ScienceBase is one of a number of USGS Trusted Digital Repositories that host data and metadata for public distribution. ScienceBase is responsible for sending all metadata records associated with a data release to the Science Data Catalog (SDC), which is the USGS metadata catalog. The SDC contains XML metadata records for all USGS data, regardless of which repository hosts the data. The metadata records in the SDC simply point to the data where ever they live, using the digital object identifier (DOI). The SDC is responsible for sharing USGS metadata with downstream catalogs such as the Department of the Interior's aggregated catalog (data.doi.gov), Data.gov, and the Geoplatform catalog. The SDC is also the official reporting mechanism for USGS data to the Office of Management and Budget.
How do the number of data releases displayed here relate to the number of metadata records available in the Science Data Catalog?
A single data release in ScienceBase may contain one to many datasets that may each have their own metadata records. ScienceBase sends all metadata records attached to data release pages to the Science Data Catalog (SDC). Therefore, the SDC catalogs USGS data at the dataset level, not necessarily the data release level. This dashboard provides summary information only at the data release level. Therefore, it is common for the number of data releases displayed in this dashboard to be less than the number of metadata records available in the SDC.
Why can’t a data release be labeled by both its science center and program?
The Science Data Catalog (SDC) only allows selection of a single science center or program as the data owner. The ScienceBase data release team ensures that the author-supplied data owner is available on each landing page. This data owner is submitted to the SDC along with the metadata record(s) for each data release. It is possible to create a separate tag on the ScienceBase data release landing pages to track a secondary data owner; however, a science center or program data manager would be responsible for curating those tags for their science center's or program’s data releases. Since the ScienceBase data release team does not curate those tags for consistency across all data releases, that information cannot be displayed in this dashboard. Contact sciencebase_datarelease@usgs.gov to learn more about tracking secondary data owners.
ScienceBase Queries for Advanced Users
Below are templates for the queries used on this summary dashboard. You can adapt and use the templates if you would like to run these queries yourself or you would like to incorporate this information into an automated workflow.
- Total Data Releases Published: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/items?q=&filter=systemType=Data+Release&filter=party= {"type":"SDC Data Owner","name": "INSERT SCIENCE CENTER NAME HERE"}
- Current Data Releases In-Progress: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/items?q=&filter=browseCategory=Data+Release+-+In+Progress &should=itemIdentifierKeys=INSERT SCIENCE CENTER NAME HERE&should=party={"type":"SDC Data Owner","name": "INSERT SCIENCE CENTER NAME HERE"}
- Data Releases Published within Date Range: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/items?q=&filter=systemType=Data+Release&filter=party= {"type":"SDC Data Owner","name":"INSERT SCIENCE CENTER NAME HERE"}&filter=dateRange={"dateType":"Publication","choice": "range","start":"YYYY-MM-DD","end":"YYYY-MM-DD"}
Questions? Contact us at: sciencebase_datarelease@usgs.gov
Last Updated: Monday, November 30, 2020