USGS domains of WQX-Outbound data delements
Domains are not enforced on data elements by the WQX-Outbound schema. However, the expected domains are listed here to assist others in conforming to a consistent nomenclature. A "domain-values" web service can be queried to determine the USGS-supplied values of the domains used for retrievals.
CharacteristicName: is confined by the USEPA Substance Registry System (SRS), with a small number of exceptions also implemented by the USEPA WQX system.
USGS identifies measurements using parameter codes. The association of parameter codes to SRS names is evolving as parameters and SRS names are added and modified. This list will be updated several times each year. A relatively small number of USGS results (<3% of non-taxonomic measurements) are not provided through the water-quality web services. Measurements are not included for one of these reasons: (1) No Substance Registry System (SRS) name has been assigned, (2) measurement describes counts of algae or benthic invertebrate taxonomic groups, or (3) measurement describes surrogate recovery for a compound added at the laboratory prior to analysis. These data may be obtained from NWIS Web.
The following names are employed but are not in the SRS.
Aluminum, Organic + Inorganic Monomeric (reactive aluminum) Aluminum, Organic Monomeric (reactive aluminum) Hydrophilic fraction of organic carbon Hydrophobic fraction of organic carbon Transphilic fraction of organic carbon
NWIS Parameter Code to SRS Crosswalk
The association of USGS parameter codes with WQX-Outbound data elements is available in html or Excel formats. The following column names are used.
- parm_cd - USGS parameter code
- description - USGS parameter description
- epa_equivalence - Comparison of USGS usage with USEPA of this parameter code
- characteristicname - WQX-Outbound characteristic name
- measureunitcode - WQX-Outbound measurement units
- resultsamplefraction - WQX-Outbound sample fraction
- resulttemperaturebasis - WQX-Outbound temperature basis
- resultstatisticalbasis - WQX-Outbound statistical basis
- resulttimebasis - WQX-Outbound time basis
- resultweightbasis - WQX-Outbound weight basis
- resultparticlesizebasis - WQX-Outbound particle-size basis
ResultSampleFractionText:
Acid Soluble Bed Sediment - Added by USGS Bedload - Added by USGS Comb Available Dissolved Free Available Non-filterable Non-settleable Non-volatile Recoverable Settleable Suspended Total Total Residual Vapor Volatile
MeasureUnitCode:
--------------------------------------------------------------- MeasureUnitCode Description --------------------------------------------------------------- #/100 gal Number per 100 gallons #/100ml Number per hundred milliliters #/500 ml Number per 500 milliters #/acre Number per acre #/cm2 Number per square centimeter #/cm3 Number per cubic centimeter #/dl Number per deciliter #/ft2 Number per square foot #/ha Number per hectare #/in2 Number per square inch #/km2 Number per square kilometer #/l Number per liter #/m2 Number per square meter #/m3 Number per cubic meter #/mi2 Number per square mile #/ml Number per milliliter #/yd2 Number per square yard % Percent % CaCO3 Percent calcium carbonate % Cover Percent Cover % by vol Percent by volume % by wt Percent by weight % saturatn percent of saturation - added by USGS % sediment % target/clean sed mix which produces response 0/00 Parts per thousand 100xA/cm/c 100 times the absorbance per centimeter per milligram per liter of hydrophobic acid - added by USGS ADMI value American Dye Manufacturers Institute Color Value Angst Angstroms BTU Energy, British Thermal Units Bcol/day billions of colonies per day - added by USGS CFU Colony Forming Units Deg Direction or angle, degrees FNU formazin nephelometric units - added by USGS FTU Turbidity, Formazin Turbidity Units Imp gal Imperial gallons JCU Light Intensity, Jackson Candle Units JTU Turbidity, Jackson Turbidity Units Joules Energy, Joules Kac-ft thousand acre feet - added by USGS Langleys Energy Intensity, Langleys (cal/sq cm) MPN Most Probable Number MPN/100 ml Most Probable Number per 100 milliliters MPN/100L most probable number per 100 liters - added by USGS MPN/gram most probable number per gram - added by USGS MT/km2/yr metric tons per square kilometer per year Mft3 million cubic feet - added by USGS Mgal million gallons - added by USGS Min Direction or angle, minutes Molal Molal Molar Molar Mole/l Moles per liter NTU Turbidity, Nephelometric Turbidity Units None None Normal Normal PCU Platinum Cobalt Units (color) PSS Practical Salinity Scale Pascal Pressure, Pascal units Plate cnt Plate Count PrsAbs presence or absence - added by USGS PrsAbs/50L presence or absence in 50 liters - added by USGS PrsAbs0.1L presence or absence per 100 milliliters - added by USGS S/m siemens per meter Sec Direction or angle, seconds T.U. Tritium Unit TON Threshold Odor Number TU Toxic Units, dividing 100% by the LC50 (% effluent Torr Pressure, Torr units(vacuum) Watts Power, Watts ac Acres ac-ft Acre-feet amps Electrical current, amperes atm Pressure, atmospheres bq/g becquerels per gram - added by USGS cal Energy, calories cal/cm2/d calories per square centimeter per day - added by USGS cells/mm2 number of cells per square millimeter - added by USGS cfm Cubic feet per minute cfs Cubic feet per second cfs-days cubic feet per second-days - added by USGS cfu/100ml Colony Forming Units per 100 Milliliters cm centimeters cm/sec Centimeters per second cm2 Square centimeters cm3 Cubic centimeters cm3/g STP cubic centimeters per gram at standard temperature and pressure - added by USGS cm3/hr Cubic centimeters per hour cm3/l cubic centimeters per liter cm3/min Cubic centimeters per minute cm3/sec Cubic centimeters per second code code - added by USGS col/gram colonies per gram - added by USGS col/mL colonies per milliliter - added by USGS count count cysts/100L cysts per 100 liters - added by USGS cysts/10L cysts per 10 liters - added by USGS days Days deg C Degrees Celsius (Centigrade) deg F Degrees Fahrenheit deg K Degrees Kelvin dl Deciliters dm decimeters dm2 Square decimeters dpm/g disintegrations per minute per gram - added by USGS drips/min Drips per minute drops Drops fc/ft2 Light Intensity, foot candles per square foot fg/kg femtograms per kilogram - added by USGS fibers/l Fibers per liter ft feet ft abv MSL feet above mean sea level - added by USGS ft-candles Light Intensity, foot candles ft-lbs Energy, foot pounds ft/day Feet per day ft/min Feet per minute ft/sec Feet per second ft2 Square feet ft3 Cubic feet ft3/day Cubic feet per day g grams g H2O/g grams of water per gram of dry solids - added by USGS g/cm3 grams per cubic centimeter g/day Grams per day g/hr Grams per hour g/kg grams per kilogram g/l Grams per liter g/m2 grams per square meter g/m2/day grams per square meter per day g/m2/hr grams per square meter per hour g/m3 grams per cubic meter g/m3/day grams per cubic meter per day g/m3/hr grams per cubic meter per hour g/mL @ 20C grams per milliliter at 20 degrees Celsius - added by USGS g/min Grams per minute g/ml Grams per milliliter g/sec Grams per second gal Fluid gallons gal/batch gallons per batch - added by USGS gal/day Gallons per day gal/hr Gallons per hour gal/min Gallons per minute gal/sec Gallons per second gpg grains per gallon gpm/ft Drawdown capacity, gallons per minute per foot ha Hectares hours Hours hp Power, horsepower in inches in/H2O Pressure, inches of water in/Hg Pressure, inches of mercury in2 Square inches in3 Cubic inches inches/day inches per day - added by USGS kPa kilopascals - added by USGS kcal Energy, kilocalories kg kilograms kg/m2 kilograms per square meter kg/m3 kilograms per cubic meter kg/t CaCO3 Kilograms per Ton calcium carbonate km kilometers km/hr Kilometers per hour km/sec Kilometers per second km2 Square kilometers knots Nautical miles per hour kw Power, kilowatts l Liters l/day Liters per day l/hr liters per hour l/min liters per minute l/sec liters per second lb pounds lb/acre/yr pounds per acre per year lb/d as N pounds per day as nitrogen - added by USGS lb/day Pounds per day lb/hr Pounds per hour lb/in Tension, pounds per inch displacement lb/min Pounds per minute lb/sec Pounds per second lm/ft2 Light Intensity, lumens per square foot lumens Light Intensity, lumens m meters m/sec Meters per second m2 Square meters m2/g square meters per gram - added by USGS m3 Cubic meters m3/hr Cubic meters per hour m3/min Cubic meters per min m3/sec Cubic meters per second mL/L/hr milliliters per liter per hour - added by USGS mS/cm Milli-Siemens per Centimeter mV Millivolts meq/100g milliequivalents per 100 grams - added by USGS meq/L Milli-equivalents per Liter metric ton metric tons mg milligrams mg 02/m2/d milligrams oxygen per square meter per day - added by USGS mg 02/m3/d milligrams oxygen per cubic meter per day - added by USGS mg/cm3 milligrams per cubic centimeter mg/day Milligrams per day mg/g milligrams per gram mg/hr Milligrams per hour mg/kg milligrams per kilogram mg/kg NH4 milligrams per kilogram as NH4 - added by USGS mg/kg PO4 milligrams per kilogram as phosphate - added by USGS mg/kg as N milligrams per kilogram as nitrogen - added by USGS mg/kg as P milligrams per kilogram as phosphorus - added by USGS mg/l milligrams per liter mg/l CaCO3 Milligrams per liter calcium carbonate mg/l NH4 milligrams per liter as NH4 - added by USGS mg/l NO3 milligrams per liter as nitrate - added by USGS mg/l PO4 milligrams per liter as phosphate - added by USGS mg/l SiO2 milligrams per liter as silicon dioxide - added by USGS mg/l as H milligrams per liter as hydrogen ion - added by USGS mg/l as N milligrams per liter as nitrogen - added by USGS mg/l as Na milligrams per liter as sodium - added by USGS mg/l as P milligrams per liter as phosphorus - added by USGS mg/l as S milligrams per liter as sulfur - added by USGS mg/m2 milligrams per square meter mg/m2 NH4 milligrams per square meter as NH4 - added by USGS mg/m2 NO3 milligrams per square meter as nitrate - added by USGS mg/m2 as N milligrams per square meter as nitrogen - added by USGS mg/m2 as P milligrams per square meter as phosphorus - added by USGS mg/m2 as S milligrams per square meter as sulfur - added by USGS mg/m2/day milligrams per square meter per day mg/m2/hr milligrams per square meter per hour mg/m3 milligrams per cubic meter mg/m3/day milligrams per cubic meter per day mg/m3/hr milligrams per cubic meter per hour mg/mL @25C milligrams per milliliter at 25 degrees Celsius - added by USGS mg/min Milligrams per minute mg/ml Milligrams per milliliter mg/sec Milligrams per second mgC3H6O2/L milligrams per liter as propionic acid - added by USGS mgal/mnth Millions of gallons per month mgal/year Millions of gallons per year mgd Millions of gallons per day mho/cm Electrical conductivity, mhos per centimeter mi miles mi2 Square miles millibars millibars - added by USGS minutes Minutes ml Milliliters ml/l Milliliters per liter mm millimeters mm/H2O Pressure, millimeters of water mm/Hg Pressure, millimeters of mercury mm2 Square millimeters mm3/l cubic millimeters per liter mmol/kg Millimoles per kilogram mmol/m2/dy Millimoles per square meter per day mmol/m2/hr Millimoles per square meter per hour months Months mosm/kg milliosmoles per kilogram - added by USGS mph Miles per hour mrem/day millirems per day mrem/yr millirems per year ms Milliseconds mw Power, megawatts nCi/L Nanocuries per liter ng nanograms ng/POCIS nanograms per polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) - added by USGS ng/SPMD nanograms per semi-permeable membrane device - added by USGS ng/cm3 nanograms per cubic centimeter ng/g nanograms per gram ng/kg nanograms per kilogram ng/l nanograms per liter ng/m2 nanograms per square meter ng/m2/hr nanograms per square meter per hour - added by USGS ng/m2/wk nanograms per square meter per week - added by USGS ng/m3 nanograms per cubic meter nm nanometers nmi nautical miles nmi2 Square nautical miles nmol/L nanomoles per liter - added by USGS nmol/kg Nano-moles per Kilogram nu number or gage ocyst/100L oocysts per 100 liters - added by USGS oocyst/10L oocysts per 10 liters - added by USGS oz ounces pCi/L pico-Curies per Liter pCi/g pico-Curies per gram pCi/m2 pico-Curies per square meter pCi/m3 pico-Curies per cubic meter pCi/ml pico-Curies per milliliter pct modern percent modern - added by USGS per m per meter per mil per mil - added by USGS pfu/100ml Plaque Forming Units per 100 Milliliters pg picograms pg/cm3 picograms per cubic centimeter pg/g picograms per gram pg/kg picograms per kilogram pg/l picograms per liter pg/m2 picograms per square meter pg/m3 picograms per cubic meter pg/mL picograms per milliliter - added by USGS ppb parts per billion ppm parts per million ppt Parts per trillion ppth parts per thousand psi Pressure, pounds per square inch pt Fluid pints qt Fluid quarts seconds Seconds std units standard units - added by USGS tCaCO3/Kt Tons of calcium carbonate per kiloton ton/d as N tons per day as nitrogen - added by USGS ton/d/ft tons per day per foot of width - added by USGS tons short tons tons/ac ft Tons per acre feet tons/day Tons per day uE/m2/sec Photosynth. radiation,micro-Einsteins/sq.meter/sec uS/cm Micro-Siemens per Centimeter uS/cm @25C microsiemens per centimeter at 25 degrees Celsius - added by USGS ueq/L Micro-equivalents per Liter ug micrograms ug/L U3O8 micrograms per liter as uranium(V,VI) oxide (U3O8) - added by USGS ug/L as As micrograms per liter as arsenic - added by USGS ug/L as Cl micrograms per liter as chloride - added by USGS ug/L as N micrograms per liter as nitrogen - added by USGS ug/L as P micrograms per liter as phosphorus - added by USGS ug/cm2/day Micrograms per square centimeter per day ug/cm3 micrograms per cubic centimeter ug/g micrograms per gram ug/g as Cl micrograms per gram as Chloride - added by USGS ug/g as N micrograms per gram as Nitrogen - added by USGS ug/kg micrograms per kilogram ug/l micrograms per liter ug/m2 micrograms per square meter ug/m3 micrograms per cubic meter ug/mg micrograms per milligram - added by USGS ugAtrazn/L micrograms per liter as Atrazine - added by USGS um3/l cubic microns per liter umho/cm Electrical conductivity, micro-mhos per centimeter umol micro mole umol/S/m2 micro moles per siemen per square meter umol/l micromoles per liter - added by USGS umol/m2/s micro moles per square meter per second units/cm Units per centimeter, for UV absorbance volts Electro-motive force, volts watts/m2 watts per square meter - added by USGS weeks Weeks yd yards yd2 Square yards yd3 Cubic yards years Years
ResultWeightBasisText:
Ash Weight - Added by USGS Ash-Free Dry Dry Wet
ResultTemperatureBasisText:
Heated 4 deg C 10 deg C 20 deg C 23 deg C 25 deg C 26 deg C 35 deg C 37 deg C 40 deg C 41.5 deg C 42 deg C 43 deg C 44.5 deg C 60 deg C 105 deg C 110 deg C 180 deg C
ResultStatisticalBasisText:
1-Sigma CSU - Added by USGS 2-Sigma CSU - Added by USGS Counting Error - Added by USGS MPN Maximum Mean Median Minimum Standard Deviation Standard Error - Added by USGS
DetectionQuantitationLimitType:
Elevated detection limit - Added by USGS Historical lower reporting limit - Added by USGS Interim reporting level - Added by USGS Laboratory reporting level - Added by USGS Long term method detection level Lower quantitation limit Minimum reporting level - Added by USGS Method detection limit Sample-specific min detect concentration - Added by USGS Sample-specific critical level - Added by USGS Upper reporting limit
ResultDetectionConditionText:
Not Detected Systematic Contamination - Added by USGS Detected Not Quantified Present Above Quantification Limit
ResultStatusIdentifier:
Preliminary Historical - Added by USGS Accepted
