U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey Parameter Codes API

Parameter codes are 5-digit codes and associated descriptions used to identify the constituent measured and the units of measure. Some parameter code definitions include information about the sampling matrix, fraction, and methods used to measure the constituent. Some parameters are fixed-value (fxd) numeric codes having textual meaning (for example: parameter code 00041 is a weather code parameter, code of 60 means rain), but more commonly represent a numeric value for chemical, physical, or biological data.

GitHub OpenAPI

Operations 8

GET /collections/parameter-codes Get Parameter codes metadata #
GET /collections/parameter-codes/items Get Parameter codes items #
OPTIONS /collections/parameter-codes/items Options for Parameter codes items #
POST /collections/parameter-codes/items Get Parameter codes items with CQL2 #
GET /collections/parameter-codes/items/{featureId} Get Parameter codes item by id #
OPTIONS /collections/parameter-codes/items/{featureId} Options for Parameter codes item by id #
GET /collections/parameter-codes/queryables Get Parameter codes queryables #
GET /collections/parameter-codes/schema Get Parameter codes schema #

Documentation

📖
Documentation
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
📖
GettingStarted
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/
📖
Documentation
https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/docs/
📖
Authentication
https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/signup/

Specifications

⚙
OpenAPI
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/openapi/u-s-geological-survey-parameter-codes-api-openapi.yml

Schemas & Data

📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/json-schema/usgs-earthquake-api-earthquake-properties-schema.json
📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/json-schema/usgs-water-data-api-monitoring-location-properties-schema.json
📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/json-schema/usgs-water-data-api-time-series-properties-schema.json

Other Resources

🔗
Conformance
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/conformance/u-s-geological-survey-conformance.yml
🔗
JSONLD
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/json-ld/usgs-earthquake-api-context.jsonld
🔗
Examples
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/examples/usgs-earthquake-api-earthquake-properties-example.json
🔗
JSONLD
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/json-ld/usgs-water-data-api-context.jsonld
🔗
Examples
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/examples/usgs-water-data-api-monitoring-location-properties-example.json

Work with this as data

Every API here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.

MCP server

One button, every client — Claude, Cursor, VS Code and the rest.

https://apis.io/mcp

Tools for apis

7 MCP tools reach this
  • find_apisBrowse and filter every API in the catalog.
  • get_api_artifactsOne API's artifacts, grouped by type.
  • get_openapiThe primary OpenAPI for this API.
  • find_similar_apisAPIs that look like this one.
  • apis_io_searchSTART HERE — APIs, providers and tags for one query, each with its total.
  • resolveTurn a domain, URL or GitHub org into the provider it belongs to.
  • find_cohortsEvery scored population of providers in the catalog.
All 92 tools →

Call it yourself

curl for this page
This API 
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/apis/u-s-geological-survey-parameter-codes-api"
All apis 
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/apis?limit=25"

Discovery needs no key. Ratings and market analysis are Pro.

Get an API key

Free tier, no form to fill in. Signing in shares your email address with us — we store it to create your key and to recognise you if you sign in with another provider. See our Privacy Policy and Terms.

GitHub Google LinkedIn

A second provider on the same verified email joins the account you already have.

OpenAPI Specification

u-s-geological-survey-parameter-codes-api-openapi.yml Raw ↑ 
openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  contact:
    name: US Geological Survey - Water Data for the Nation
    url: https://waterdata.usgs.gov
    x-ogc-serviceContact:
      addresses: []
      emails:
      - value: wdfn@usgs.gov
      hoursOfService: pointOfContact
      links:
      - href: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/questions-comments/?referrerUrl=https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
        type: text/html
      name: WDFN Support
  description: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) collects water data at monitoring locations across the United States using both automated sensors and manual data collection. These APIs provide access to that data, alongside metadata about data collections and monitoring locations, in standardized machine-readable formats.
  license:
    name: US Government work in the public domain
    url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
  termsOfService: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
  title: USGS Water Data Parameter Codes API
  version: 0.71.7
  x-keywords:
  - geospatial
  - data
  - api
  - hydrology
  - USGS
servers:
- description: 'The United States Geological Survey (USGS) collects water data at monitoring locations across the United States using both automated sensors and manual data collection. These APIs provide access to that data, alongside metadata about data collections and monitoring locations, in standardized machine-readable formats.

    '
  url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov/ogcapi/v0
tags:


# --- truncated at 32 KB (33 KB total) ---
# Full source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/u-s-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/openapi/u-s-geological-survey-parameter-codes-api-openapi.yml