Ontology for observations and sampling features, with alignments to existing models

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Cox, Simon J.D.

Affiliations: CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 10, Clayton South, Vic. 3169, Australia. E-mail: Simon.Cox@csiro.au

Abstract: We introduce new OWL ontologies for observations and sampling features, based on the O&M conceptual model from OGC and ISO 19156. Previous efforts, (a) through the W3C SSN project, and (b) following ISO rules for conversion from UML, had dependencies on elaborate pre-existing ontologies and frameworks. The new ontologies, known as om-lite and sam-lite, remove such dependencies, and can therefore be used with minimal ontological commitment beyond the O&M conceptual model. Time and space concepts, for which there are multiple existing solutions, are implemented as stub-classes, and patterns for linking to the existing ontologies are described. PROV is used to support certain requirements for the description of specimens. A more general alignment of both observation and sampling feature ontologies with PROV is described, as well as mappings to some other observation models and ontologies.

Keywords: Observations, sampling, ontology re-use, provenance

DOI: 10.3233/SW-160214

Journal: Semantic Web, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 453-470, 2017