pwfdf url

Synopsis

pwfdf url [options]

Description

Returns a URL used to search the PWFDF collection. By default, returns a web-encoded URL. Use the --decode option to return a decoded URL, which is more human-readable. By default, returns a URL for the ScienceBase user interface. Use the --json option to return a URL for an sbJSON API query instead, and the --fields option to request specific sbJSON fields in the response.

Example:

pwfdf url

Options

-h, --help

Displays the command’s help text and exits.

-t, --show-traceback

Shows the full traceback when an error occurs.

Tags

--fire NAME

The name of a fire to search. Note that the fire name is the portion of the assessment ID before the start date. A fire name must exactly match the provided text to match an assessment. Place the fire name in quotes if the name contains whitespace or punctuation.

Examples:

pwfdf url --fire Eaton
pwfdf url --fire "South Rim"
--version VERSION

A version number to search.

Caution

Note that you must specify a full version number (such as 1.2). Major version numbers (such as 1) are not supported.

Examples:

pwfdf url --version 1.1

Date Ranges

--start-date DATE | DATE RANGE

A date or date range in when the fire started.

Examples:

pwfdf url --start-date 2025
pwfdf url --start-date 2025-06
pwfdf url --start-date 2025-06-11
pwfdf url --start-date 2025 2027
pwfdf url --start-date 2025-06-15 2025-08-10
--assessment-date DATE | DATE RANGE

A date or date range in which the assessment was conducted.

Examples:

pwfdf url --assessment-date 2025
pwfdf url --assessment-date 2025-06
pwfdf url --assessment-date 2025-06-11
pwfdf url --assessment-date 2025 2027
pwfdf url --assessment-date 2025-06-15 2025-08-10
--publication-date DATE | DATE RANGE

A date or date range in which the assessment was published to ScienceBase.

Examples:

pwfdf url --publication-date 2025
pwfdf url --publication-date 2025-06
pwfdf url --publication-date 2025-06-11
pwfdf url --publication-date 2025 2027
pwfdf url --publication-date 2025-06-15 2025-08-10

Extent

Options for searching well-known spatial regions whose coordinates are already known by ScienceBase.

--extent NAME

The name of an extent (such as a state or country) to search. Place the name in quotes if it contains spaces or punctuation. Cannot be used if the --extent-id option is used.

Examples:

# Named extents
pwfdf url --extent California
pwfdf url --extent "Los Angeles, CA"
pwfdf url --extent "Grand Canyon National Park"

# Hydrologic unit codes
pwfdf url --extent 05
--extent-id ID

The ID of an extent to search. Cannot be used if the --extent option is used.

Example:

# Searches California
pwfdf url --extent-id 35

# Searches the 05 HUC-2 watershed
pwfdf url --extent-id 2000387
--extent-type TYPE

The type of extent to search. This option is usually not necessary, but can guard against searching a wrong extent with a similar name.

Tip

Use the pwfdf extents types command to obtain a list of supported types.

Example:

pwfdf url --extent "Los Angeles, CA" --extent-type "U.S. County"
--extent-relation RELATION

The spatial relationship between the extent and the search results. Options are:

Relation

Description

intersects (default)

Matches assessments that intersect the extent at any point.

within

Matches assessments that are fully contained within the extent.

disjoint

Matches assessments that do not intersect the extent at any point.

Example:

pwfdf url --extent California --extent-relation within

Geometry

Custom geospatial searches in which you provide the coordinates of the region to search.

--bbox PATH | "XMIN, YMIN, XMAX, YMAX"

A bounding box to search. Usually the path to a supported GIS file, such as a Shapefile or GeoJSON. May also be a comma-delimited, WGS-84 "XMIN, YMIN, XMAX, YMAX" coordinate sequence. If a GIS file, then the bounding box is calculated from the contained geometries.

Examples:

pwfdf url --bbox path/to/my/file.shp
pwfdf url --bbox "-121, 32, -119, 34"
--point PATH | "LON, LAT"

A geospatial point to search. Either a comma-delimited "LON, LAT" sequence, or the path to a supported GIS file, such as a Shapefile or GeoJSON. If a GIS file, then the point is calculated as the center of the bounding box for the contained geometries.

Examples:

pwfdf url --point path/to/my/file.shp
pwfdf url --point "-121, 32"
--geometry PATH | GEOJSON

A spatial geometry to search. Usually the path to a file in a supported GIS file, such as a Shapefile or GeoJSON. May also be a valid WGS-84 GeoJSON geometry string, but this syntax is generally not recommended, as it is difficult to use in practice.

In practice, only relatively coarse geometries are supported, as the geometry cannot cause the underlying query URL to exceed 2000 characters. As a rule of thumb, geometries with fewer than 100 coordinate points are expected to usually work.

Examples:

pwfdf url --geometry path/to/my/file.shp
pwfdf url --geometry "{\"type\":\"Point\",\"coordinates\":[-121, 32]}"
--geometry-relation RELATION

The spatial relationship between a geospatial search and the search results. Options are:

Relation

Description

intersects (default)

Matches assessments that intersect the geometry at any point.

within

Matches assessments that are fully contained within the geometry.

disjoint

Matches assessments that do not intersect the geometry at any point.

Example:

pwfdf url --bbox my-file.shp --geometry-relation intersects
pwfdf url --point my-file.shp --geometry-relation within
pwfdf url --geometry my-file.shp --geometry-relation disjoint

Geometry File IO

Options for reading geometries from supported vector feature file formats.

--geometry-layer NAME

The name of a data layer in the GIS file from which to extract the geometry. Cannot be used when the --geometry-index option is used.

Example:

pwfdf url --geometry my-file.geojson --geometry-layer "My Data Layer"
--geometry-index INDEX

The index of a data layer in the GIS file from which to extract the geometry. Cannot be used when the --geometry-layer option is used.

Example:

pwfdf url --geometry my-file.geojson --geometry-index 2
--geometry-driver DRIVER

Specifies the file format driver to use to open the geometry file. Note that the format driver is usually auto-detected from the file extension. Use this option if the geometry file uses a non-standard file extension. Refer to the first column of the geometry file formats table for a list of supported driver names.

Example:

pwfdf url --geometry my-file.unusual --geometry-driver Shapefile
--geometry-encoding ENCODING

Specifies the file encoding to use to read the geometry file. Note that the encoding is auto-detected for most formats.

Example:

pwfdf url --geometry my-file.shp --geometry-encoding Windows-1252

Misc ScienceBase

Miscellaneous options for low-level interactions with the ScienceBase API.

--fields FIELD...

Specifies the sbJSON fields that should be queried.

Example:

pwfdf url --fields id title summary
--max N

The maximum number of ScienceBase products retrieved per API query. Defaults to 500 and cannot exceed 1000.

Example:

pwfdf url --max 1000
--offset N

The number of ScienceBase products to skip before retrieving search results.

Example:

pwfdf url --offset 50

Url

--decode

Returns a decoded URL, instead of a web-encoded URL. Decoded URLs are more human-readable, but may fail to open in some web browsers.

Example:

pwfdf url --decode
--json

Returns a URL for an sbJSON API query, instead of the ScienceBase user interface.

Example:

pwfdf url --json