US Geological Survey

The US Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government that conducts research on the natural resources, natural hazards, and environmental health of the United States. The USGS is responsible for monitoring and assessing the country's water, energy, mineral, and biological resources, as well as investigating geological hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and floods. USGS provides a broad portfolio of public REST APIs covering earthquake data, water resources, geomagnetism, mapping, seismic design, and scientific data catalogs - all available without cost as US Government works.

US Geological Survey publishes 8 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Collections API, Continuous Values API, Daily Values API, and 5 more. Tagged areas include Federal Government, Earth Science, Earthquakes, Water Data, and Geospatial.

The US Geological Survey catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context and 2 Spectral governance rulesets.

US Geological Survey’s developer surface includes authentication and 4 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

40.0/100 thin ▬ flat Agent 31/100 agent aware Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6

AccessSelf serve

12 APIs

Federal GovernmentEarth ScienceEarthquakesWater DataGeospatialHazardsEnvironment

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6

Composite quality — 40.0/100 · thin

Contract Quality 15.2 / 25

Developer Ergonomics 2.2 / 20

Commercial Clarity 5.8 / 20

Operational Transparency 3.4 / 13

Governance 7.0 / 12

Discoverability 6.5 / 10

Agent readiness — 31/100 · agent aware

Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10

Idempotency 0 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8

Request/Response Examples 0 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7

Typed Event Surface 0 / 6

Agent Skills 0 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

A2A Agent Card 0 / 8

Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/us-geological-survey: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 12

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Us Geological Survey Rate Limits

2 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

JSON Schema 1

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Examples 1

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

AGENTIC

Resources

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess

AgenticAccess

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization

GitHubOrganization

Access & Security 2

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

Authentication

Authentication

Company 1

The organization behind the API

LinkedIn

Source (apis.yml)

aid: us-geological-survey
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-geological-survey/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/us-geological-survey-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/us-geological-survey-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/us-geological-survey-authentication.yml
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/usgs
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/usgs
apis:
- aid: us-geological-survey:sciencebase-api
  name: USGS ScienceBase Catalog API
  tags:
  - Scientific Data
  - Research
  - Catalog
  - Federal Government
  humanURL: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/
  properties:
  - url: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/swagger-ui.html
    type: SwaggerUI
  description: The USGS ScienceBase Catalog API provides access to USGS scientific data management infrastructure, enabling
    upload, documentation, sharing, and dynamic data services for USGS research datasets and scientific publications.
- aid: us-geological-survey:geomagnetism-api
  name: USGS Geomagnetism Web Service
  tags:
  - Geomagnetism
  - Magnetic Data
  - Federal Government
  humanURL: https://www.usgs.gov/tools/web-service-geomagnetism-data
  properties:
  - url: https://www.usgs.gov/tools/web-service-geomagnetism-data
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://geomag.usgs.gov/ws/edge/
    type: BaseURL
  description: The USGS Geomagnetism Web Service provides programmatic access to geomagnetic data collected by USGS magnetic
    observatories across the United States and territories, supporting navigation, space weather, and geophysical research.
- aid: us-geological-survey:seismic-design-api
  name: USGS Seismic Design Data Web Services
  tags:
  - Seismic Design
  - Engineering
  - Hazards
  - Federal Government
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/ws/designmaps/
  properties:
  - url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/ws/designmaps/
    type: Documentation
  description: The USGS Seismic Design Data Web Services provide parameter values from seismic design reference documents
    for building and infrastructure design, supporting compliance with ASCE 7 and other engineering standards.
- aid: us-geological-survey:national-map-api
  name: USGS National Map Services
  tags:
  - Mapping
  - Geospatial
  - Topography
  - Federal Government
  humanURL: https://apps.nationalmap.gov/api/
  properties:
  - url: https://apps.nationalmap.gov/api/
    type: Documentation
  description: The USGS National Map services provide geospatial data and elevation products via OGC web services, REST APIs,
    and download services covering topographic data, imagery, hydrography, boundaries, transportation, structures, and land
    cover for the United States.
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-collections-api
  name: US Geological Survey Collections API
  description: OGC API collection discovery
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Collections
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-collections-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-continuous-values-api
  name: US Geological Survey Continuous Values API
  description: Real-time and historical continuous sensor measurements
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Continuous Values
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-continuous-values-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-daily-values-api
  name: US Geological Survey Daily Values API
  description: Daily summary water data
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Daily Values
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-daily-values-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-earthquakes-api
  name: US Geological Survey Earthquakes API
  description: Earthquake catalog query and count operations
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Earthquakes
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-earthquakes-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-field-measurements-api
  name: US Geological Survey Field Measurements API
  description: Physically measured values from site visits
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Field Measurements
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-field-measurements-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-metadata-api
  name: US Geological Survey Metadata API
  description: API metadata and discovery operations
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Metadata
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-metadata-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-monitoring-locations-api
  name: US Geological Survey Monitoring Locations API
  description: Geographic and metadata for USGS monitoring stations
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Monitoring Locations
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-monitoring-locations-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
- aid: us-geological-survey:us-geological-survey-time-series-metadata-api
  name: US Geological Survey Time Series Metadata API
  description: Metadata about time series observations
  humanURL: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  tags:
  - Time Series Metadata
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/us-geological-survey-time-series-metadata-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/fdsnws/event/1/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.waterdata.usgs.gov
name: US Geological Survey
tags:
- Federal Government
- Earth Science
- Earthquakes
- Water Data
- Geospatial
- Hazards
- Environment
kind: contract
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/us-geological-survey.png
access: 3rd-Party
created: '2024-12-03'
modified: '2026-05-19'
position: Consuming
description: The US Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government that conducts research on the
  natural resources, natural hazards, and environmental health of the United States. The USGS is responsible for monitoring
  and assessing the country's water, energy, mineral, and biological resources, as well as investigating geological hazards
  such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and floods. USGS provides a broad portfolio of public REST APIs covering earthquake
  data, water resources, geomagnetism, mapping, seismic design, and scientific data catalogs - all available without cost
  as US Government works.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
specificationVersion: '0.19'

US Geological Survey

APIs 12

Open Collections 2

Pricing Plans 1

Rate Limits 1

FinOps 1

Semantic Vocabularies 1

Spectral Rules 2