Searching for Data

You may search for data by setting the search parameters on the right-side panel and defining your geographic location. You are not required to set a geographic location and may conduct searches on a global extent, however the search results will only appear plotted on the map if there are less than 25,000 time series found, and narrowing the geographic extent may help minimize the results. Narrowing the search parameters may also help to achieve less than 25,000 time series found. You may check the right-side search panel to keep track of the number of time series found. As you define each search parameter, you will have the option to conduct a "Search" immediately or to "Save" the search parameter until you are ready to search. You can initiate a search at any time by clicking "Search Now" on the right-side panel. The search results will appear as blue markers with numbers that indicate the number of time series measured near that location. The following search parameters are described below:

Data Services

Click on the rows to highlight certain publishing organizations or keep all rows unselected to search for all data services. Also, you may click the checkbox in the upper right corner to Select all non-gridded data services (click here to learn about gridded data services).

Keywords

Keywords represent the property being observed (e.g. precipitation, temperature, specific conductance, etc.). To learn more about selecting a keyword in HydroClient, click here.

Advanced Search

The advanced search parameters enable users to search by data type, general category, sample medium, and value type. These search parameters are taken from the CUAHSI Controlled Vocabulary Database. Browse the definitions below to understand each search parameter:

1. Data Type: categorizes data sets into types that convey the frequency of observations or post-processing of the data such as average, cumulative, minimum over a time period.

2. General Category: labels the category of the data such as “Water Quality” or “Hydrology.”

3. Sample Medium: describes the medium which is being sampled for laboratory analysis or the medium in which a sensor is placed.

4. Value Type: conveys the type of observation that is being made. For example, was a measurement made in the field or is it a value that comes from a model run?

For all search parameters, click to highlight the rows of interest in the dialogue box and either Save or Search. To highlight more than one row, hold down the CTRL button while you make your next click. Remember that search results will only plot on the map if there are less than 25,000 time series found. You may refine the geographic location on the map to narrow your search results to a region of interest.

Define the geographic location on the map in three ways:

1. Enter a location in the search box on the top left of the home screen
2. Double click on a specific place to zoom in
3. Use the zoom buttons and click and drag to pan to the location of interest

Another way of achieving less than 25,000 times series found, is to use the Filter Results option located on the right-side search panel. Learn more about using the Filter Results option here.