U.S. Geological Survey Continuous API
Continuous data are collected via automated sensors installed at a monitoring location. They are collected at a high frequency and often at a fixed 15-minute interval. Depending on the specific monitoring location, the data may be transmitted automatically via telemetry and be available on WDFN within minutes of collection, while other times the delivery of data may be delayed if the monitoring location does not have the capacity to automatically transmit data. Continuous data are described by parameter name and parameter code (pcode). These data might also be referred to as "instantaneous values" or "IV".
U.S. Geological Survey Continuous API is one of 47 APIs that U.S. Geological Survey publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.
This API exposes 3 JSON Schema definitions.
Tagged areas include continuous. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes an OpenAPI specification, API documentation, a getting-started guide, a JSON-LD context, authentication docs, and 3 JSON Schemas.
This API exposes 8 operations across 5 paths, and defines 5 schemas. It is described by OpenAPI 3.2.0, at version 0.71.7.
Requests are made against a single base URL, https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/ogcapi/v0.
Metadata
The identity and technical contract details declared by the specification.
Authentication & Security 2
U.S. Geological Survey Continuous API declares
2 security schemes
for authenticating requests.
An API key is passed in the header as api_key (ApiKeyHeader).
An API key is passed in the query as api_key (ApiKeyQuery).
ApiKeyHeader— Providing your API key gives you higher rate limits when querying our APIs. You can obtain an API key at https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/signupApiKeyQuery— Providing your API key gives you higher rate limits when querying our APIs. You can obtain an API key at https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/signup
Paths & Operations 8
Across 5 paths, the API surfaces 8 operations — 5 GET, 2 OPTIONS, 1 POST. Each is listed below with its method, path, parameters, and response codes.
Continuous data are collected via automated sensors installed at a monitoring location. They are collected at a high frequency and often at a fixed 15-minute interval. Depending o…
Schemas 5
The contract defines 5 schemas that model the data the API accepts and returns. The most detailed are queryable (6 properties), ContinuousFeatureCollection (6 properties), ContinuousFeature (4 properties), Error (1 property). Each schema is shown below with its type and property counts.
Specification
The full machine-readable OpenAPI contract behind this narrative.
Source
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