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Data for Machine Learning Predictions of Nitrate in Groundwater Used for Drinking Supply in the Conterminous United States

Metadata Updated: October 30, 2025

A three-dimensional extreme gradient boosting (XGB) machine learning model was developed to predict the distribution of nitrate in groundwater across the conterminous United States (CONUS). Nitrate was predicted at a 1-square-kilometer (km) resolution for two drinking water zones, each of variable depth, one for domestic supply and one for public supply. The model used measured nitrate concentrations from 12,082 wells, and included predictor variables representing well characteristics, hydrologic conditions, soil type, geology, land use, climate, and nitrogen inputs. Predictor variables derived from empirical or numerical process-based models were also included to integrate information on controlling processes and conditions. This data release documents the model and provides the model results. The model and results are discussed in the associated journal article, Ransom and others (2021). Included in this data release are, 1) a model archive of the R project: source code, input files (including model training and hold-out data, rasters of all final predictor variables, and rasters representing domestic and public supply depth zones), and output files (two rasters of predicted nitrate concentration at the depth zones typical of domestic and public supply wells), 2) a read_me file describing the model archive and an explanation of its use, and 3) tables describing model variables, model fit statistics, and model results [these tables are also included in the Supporting Information published with the journal article Ransom and others (2021)].

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 30, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 30, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-5fe122a7d34e30b9123f02d9
Data Last Modified 2021-10-22T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 865187d0-5a45-4208-b226-982b4b35d84f
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -127.8868, 22.8753, -65.3455, 51.5753
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 1020d67eb28571350f0049f1eae56acb8c013db109f61db2abb09d13dfe43b48
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -127.8868, 22.8753, -127.8868, 51.5753, -65.3455, 51.5753, -65.3455, 22.8753, -127.8868, 22.8753}

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