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Useful Databases
National Institute of Standards and Technology

For over 30 years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Data Group (SRDG) has provided well-documented numeric data to scientists and engineers for use in technical problem-solving, research, and development. These recommended values are based on data which have been extracted from the world's literature, assessed for reliability, and then evaulated to select preferred values. These data activities are conducted by scientists at NIST and in university data centers.

Follow the link under each heading & description to access the database.

• Analytical Chemistry
  NIST provides a comprehensive set of easy-to-use databases and online systems that help the analytical chemist identify unknown materials and obtain physical, chemical, and spectroscopic data about known substances.
• Atomic and Molecular Physics
  The NIST Atomic Physics Program produces the most comprehensive set of reliable atomic data available anywhere.The NIST collection of atomic energy levels, transition probabilities, and collision data is widely used by groups for characterizing and modeling all types of gaseous systems, including plasmas, planetary atmospheres, and astrophysical media, and for health physics applications. Databases and publications make these data easy to find and easy to use. The physics online databases have grown into an extensive listing. The NIST Chemistry WebBook now contains electronic and vibrational spectra for over 4000 compounds. The WebBook also contains constants of diatomic molecules.
• Biometrics
  Biometrics is defined as the statistical analysis of biological observations and phenomena. The fingerprint and mugshot databases facilitate analysis for researchers in the law enforcement field.
• Biotechnology
  NIST has developed several databases in the rapidly-growing field of biotechnology.
• Chemical and Crystal Structure
  The Chemical and Crystal Structure category describes databases that are valuable tools for today's chemists, physicists, and materials scientists. These databases identify compounds or look for insights into material structures. The NIST Crystal Database now covers the entire spectrum of well-characterized crystalline compounds, with 210,402 inorganic and organic compounds.
• Chemical Kinetics
  The NIST Program on Chemical Kinetics has long been a source of reliable, critically evaluated data on gas-phase reactions. Over the years, data provided by the program have been instrumental in modeling and predicting many important scientific systems such as combustion chemistry, atmospheric changes related to ozone depletion and warming, plasmas, and free-radical chemistry.
• Chemistry
  NIST has long been developing and compiling benchmark data for the properties of important substances, classes of substances and systems. It's data collections, data prediction methods and models meet high priority industrial and national needs. The following list of databases contribute to U.S. industry's productivity and competitiveness and improve public health, safety and environmental quality.
• Environmental Data
  NIST data activities that support stewardship of the environment include remediation of environmental problems through the development of measurements, data, and models. NIST has served as a partner for both industry and measurement laboratories for many years in dealing with environmental concerns by providing the tools needed for sustainable development and the shared goals of environmental protection and socio-economic growth.
• Fire
  NIST's fire research software promotes fire safety for people, products, facilities, and enhances firefighter effectiveness. The ultimate goal is reduction in fatalities.
• Fluids
  Providing reliable data on the thermophysical properties of fluid mixtures has been a primary area of focus of NIST. A set of combined theoretical and empirical predictive techniques have been developed that rest firmly on evaluated data. These techniques have been tested and incorporated into interactive computer programs that generate a large variety of properties based upon the specified composition and the appropriate state variables.
• Law Enforcement
  NIST has long applied science and technology to the needs of the criminal justice community, including law enforcement, corrections, forensic science, and the fire service. NIST collaborates with national law enforcement technology centers, the forensic community and all segments of the criminal justice community.
• Material Properties
  The NIST Materials Data Program provides evaluated data on phase equilibria, structure and characterization, and performance properties.
• Mathematical Databases, Software, and Tools
  NIST provides technical expertise to modern analytical and computational methods for solving scientific problems of interest to American industry. This is accomplished by mathematical modeling, design of methods, transformation of these methods into efficient numerical algorithms for high-performance computers and the implementation of these methods into high-quality mathematical software.
• Physics
  The NIST collection of atomic energy levels, transition probabilities, and collision data is widely used by groups for characterizing and modeling all types of gaseous systems, including plasmas, planetary atmospheres, and astrophysical media, and for health physics applications. Databases and publications make these data easy to find and easy to use. The physics online databases have grown into an extensive listing. The NIST Chemistry WebBook now contains electronic and vibrational spectra for over 4000 compounds. The WebBook also contains constants of diatomic molecules.
• Surface Data
  The surface data category highlights databases that allow surface scientists, tribologists, and analytical chemists to analyze surfaces of materials.
• Thermophysical & Thermochemical
  NIST has a long history as the source for reliable thermochemical data starting from the 1920s with the International Critical Tables. The tradition continues as new NIST databases on thermochemical properties of inorganic and small organic molecules gain acceptance.

For a complete list of databases and advanced searching options, visit the NIST Data Gateway.