FAQ - GeoPlatform Data Sources

Where does GeoPlatform harvest data? How Often?

GeoPlatform harvests federal geospatial metadata daily from Data.gov’s Catalog.

Data.gov is the central clearinghouse for open data from the United States federal government. For more information on getting your data in Data. gov see How to get your Open Data on Data.gov.

How are geospatial metadata records harvested into GeoPlatform?

GeoPlatform uses Data.gov’s CKAN API to check which metadata records were updated since the last harvest. To harvest geospatial metadata records GeoPlatform uses an API call similar to this:

https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/?metadata_type=geospatial&organization_type=Federal+Government

This URL shows the federal geospatial records in the Data.gov Catalog: https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/?metadata_type=geospatial&organization_type=Federal+Government

What metadata standards are supported for harvesting into GeoPlatform?

GeoPlatform follows the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) guidelines for metadata. For more information see the FGDC Technical Guidance: Data.gov and The GeoPlatform Metadata Recommendations.

GeoPlatform supports the harvesting of ISO 19139:2007 and Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) metadata records. Note, the CSDGM records are transformed to ISO 19139:2007 using the FGDC CSDGM to ISO19139 Transform before being published into GeoPlatform. GeoPlatform additionally supports the harvesting of DCAT-US metadata records that have a link to one of the supported geospatial metadata schemas. For the link to be recognized by GeoPlatform, the geospatial metadata needs to follow the example documented in the Geospatial Full Metadata Link Example.

For more information on the standards that GeoPlatform uses see the Baseline of GeoPlatform Standards FAQ.

What if my dataset and metadata appear to meet these criteria and are not showing in GeoPlatform or is showing in GeoPlatform, but not as expected or with errors?

  • First, verify that the metadata is available in the Data.gov Catalog. If your data is not in the Data.gov Catalog see How to get your Open Data on Data.gov.

  • Next, verify that your metadata record is in a supported format (currently ISO 19139:2007 and CSDGM). For more information see the What metadata standards are supported for harvesting into GeoPlatform question above.

If your data is in the Data.gov Catalog and your metadata is in a supported format, contact the GeoPlatform team for more help using this form. Please indicate in the form if you would like one-on-one consultation with a person from the GeoPlatform team to help you get your data into GeoPlatform.

My organization is not publishing to the Data.gov Catalog. How do I get my data into GeoPlatform?

Currently, the path for getting your data into GeoPlatform Catalog is by publishing your data in the Data.gov Catalog.

If you have data that should be in GeoPlatform but isn’t in the Data.gov Catalog please let the GeoPlatform team know using this GeoPlatform Service Desk form. Please indicate in the form if you would like one-on-one consultation with a person from the GeoPlatform team to help you get your data into GeoPlatform.