OBIS - Ocean Biodiversity Information System
UNESCO/IODE global open-access database of marine species occurrence records, 6,700+ datasets and ~200M records standardized to Darwin Core; core source for coastal/ocean biological water quality and biodiversity indicators.
obis.org
At a glance
- Region
- International (UNESCO/IODE) (Global)
- Coverage
- Global oceans and coasts, 1900s-present
- Access
- Free
- Category
- Government
What's inside
- Marine Biodiversity
- Species Occurrence
- Water Quality
- Ecological Data
What you can do with it
Typical work that data of this type supports.
- 01
Hotspots and trends
Find where contamination is high and whether it is getting worse.
Because it has: Water Quality
- 02
Compliance checks
Compare samples against drinking water and discharge standards.
- 03
Sea-level planning
Plan for sea-level rise and storm surge.
Because it has: Marine Biodiversity
Where AI adds value
Ideas for machine learning and AI agents built on this kind of data.
- 01
Risk maps
Predict contamination where no samples exist, from geology, land use and climate.
- 02
Anomaly alerts
Catch sudden spikes in sensor or lab data automatically.
- 03
Surge forecasts
Forecast surge and coastal water levels quickly.
Machine access and documentation
Open API
Machine-readable endpoint on api.obis.org
Licence: CC-BY 4.0
Listed in our registry of open water APIs, which WaterDataGPT can query live.
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