Exploiting the Observations and Measurements
Standard for interoperability in the Earth Sciences
and beyond
Lesley Wyborn
Simon Cox
Science relies on observations
•
•
Provides evidence & validation
Involves sampling
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This paper is about a domain-independent terminology and
information-model
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Raises the question of who is coordinating Geoscience
standards
also of ensuring geoscience standards integrate with related
disciplines: chemistry, physics, hydrology etc
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CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
A key driver: Our Science is changing
Planet
Continent
Mountain
Section
Outcrop
Rock
Mineral
Molecule
Atom
Source: Office of Integrative Activities NSF
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Observations
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Back to basics: What is “an Observation”
• Observation act involves a procedure applied at a specific time
• The result of an observation is an estimate of some property
• The observation domain is a feature of interest at some time
• [0..*] locations may be of interest, associated with the
procedure and feature of interest
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Examples
• The 7th banana weighed 270gm on the kitchen scales this morning
• The attitude of the foliation at outcrop 321 of the Leederville Formation was
63/085, measured using a Brunton on 2006-08-08
• Specimen H69 was identified on 1999-01-14 by Amy Bachrach as Eucalyptus
Caesia
• The image of Camp Iota was obtained by Aster in 2003
• Sample WMC997t collected at Empire Dam on 1996-03-30 was found to have
5.6 g/T Au as measured by ICPMS at ABC Labs on 1996-05-31
• The X-Z Geobarometer determined that the ore-body was at depth 3.5 km at
1.75 Ga
• The simulation run on 2004-09-09 indicated that the pressure in the hangingwall at 618 Ma was reduced 4 MPa
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
In “pictures”
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Generic pattern for observation data
AnyFeature
Process
1
featureOfInterest
1
propertyValueProvider
0..*
generatedObservation
samplingTime
resultTime [0..1]
procedureOperator [0..1]
parameter [0..*]
resultQuality [0..1]
observedProperty
result
1
PropertyType
0..*
Observation
+
+
+
+
+
procedure
Any
{n}
An Observation is an action whose result is an estimate of the value
of some property of the feature-of-interest, obtained using a specified procedure
Where’s the “location”?
In the feature-of-interest, reconciling remote and in-situ observations
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Domain profile
AnyFeature
Process
1
featureOfInterest
procedure
1
propertyValueProvider
• feature of interest
0..*
• Feature-type taken
from a domain-model
(e.g. GeoSciML)
generatedObservation
• procedure
Observation
+
+
+
+
+
• Standard procedures,
suitable for the
property-type
samplingTime
resultTime [0..1]
procedureOperator [0..1]
parameter [0..*]
resultQuality [0..1]
observedProperty
result
1
PropertyType
• observed property
• Belongs to feature-of-interest-type
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0..*
Any
{n}
Sampling features
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Proximate vs ultimate feature-of-interest
Ultimate (“project”) thing of interest not directly or fully accessible
1. Proximate feature of interest embodies a sample design
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Rock-specimen samples an ore-body or geologic unit
Well samples an aquifer
Profile samples an ocean/atmosphere column
Cross-section samples a rock-unit
2. Sensed property is a proxy
•
e.g. want land-cover, but observe colour
Sampling designs are common
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Sampling features
Domain feature type
AnyFeature
sampledFeature
0..*
Complex
Intention
SamplingFeature
relatedSamplingFeature 0..*+
samplingTime [0..1]
+ parameter [0..*]
relatedObservation
Observation
0..*
SpatiallyExtensiveSamplingFeature
Specimen
+
+
+
+
+
materialClass
samplingMethod [0..1]
samplingLocation [0..1]
size [0..1]
currentLocation [0..1]
SamplingPoint
Station
SamplingCurve
SamplingSurface
SamplingSolid
+ length [0..1]
+ area [0..1]
+ volume [0..1]
Traverse
Borehole
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MineLevel
Section
MapHorizon
Mine
Specimens and “outcrops”
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Motivation for developing a common model
• Cross-domain data discovery and fusion
• Re-usable service interfaces
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Governance
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Development and validation of O&M
• Developed in the context of
• Geochemistry/Assay data
• Sensor Web Enablement – environmental and remote sensing
• Subsequently applied in
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•
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Water resources/water quality
Oceans & Atmospheres
Natural resources
Taxonomic data
Geology field data
• Status
• OGC RWG Adopted Specification in late 2007
• ISO Standard – 2008-9?
• Adopted as a key aspect of GeoSciML
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Application to other science disciplines
• need information transfer standards for
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•
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Geochemistry
Geochronology
Geophysics
Geodesy
Seismology
Hydrogeology
Marine
Ecology
Biogeology
http://www.datastrategyjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=1
• But need to coordinate these standards (including ontologies) to avoid
uncontrolled growth of YAML (Yet Another Markup Language)
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
GA Geochronology Data Transfer Model:
An example of reuse (beg, borrow & steal)
Governance
Chemical ML
Molecules, atoms, isotopes
IUPAC
GeoSci ML
Earth materials
IUGS:CGI
Geography ML
Location, time, people
OGC & ISO
Observations &
Measurements
Observation patterns and
processes
OGC (& ISO)
Sensor ML
Sensor and instrument
metadata
OGC
If we can leverage Chemical ML for geochemistry, can we
leverage physics standards for geophysics, and so on…..?
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Type
Technical
Describes
Information
Standard
Governance and coordination
for data exchange standards?
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GeoUnions
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IUGS, International Union of Geological Sciences (CGI - GeoSciML)
IUGG, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (Commission for Data)
IUSS, International Union of Soil Sciences
IGU, International Geographical Union
INQUA, International Union for Quaternary Research
ISPRS International Union for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Not GeoUnions
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International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (Chemical ML)
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International Hydrographic Organization (S-57, MarineML)
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WMO (BUFR, Metar, Hydrology?)
Maybe we need ICSU, CODATA, SCID for coordination and governance
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March 2008 Rome workshop
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21 representatives from Geoscience agencies
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
A Starting Point for Collaboration:
SEEGrid TWIKI
http://www.seegrid.csiro.au
• Solid Earth &
Environment
community web site
• Started in 2003
• 15 communities now
• In 2007
– 48,264 unique visits
– 1,170,567 hits
– 52.52GB download
• AppSchemas web
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Exploration & Mining
Simon Cox
Research Scientist
Phone: +61 8 6436 8639
Email: Simon.Cox@csiro.au
Web: www.csiro.au/em
Thank you
Contact Us
Phone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176
Email: Enquiries@csiro.au Web: www.csiro.au
Procedure vs. observedProperty
• observedProperty supports discovery by observation users
• “show me all the observations of temperature and wind-speed”
• procedure provides strict definition
• “how was that value obtained?”
• …or provider-centric discovery
• “show me all the data collected by instrument X”
CSIRO 33rd IGC August 2008
Some properties vary within a feature
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colour of a Scene or Swath varies with position
shape of a Glacier varies with time
flow at a Station varies with time
rock density varies along a Borehole
• Variable values may be described as a Function on some axis of
the feature
• Corresponding Observation/result is a Function
• If domain is spatio-temporal, also known as coverage or map
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Variable property  coverage valued result
«FeatureType»
Observ ation
«FeatureType»
DiscreteCov erageObserv ation
CV_Coverage
result
CV_DiscreteCov erage
{n}
«FeatureType»
PointCov erageObserv ation
result
CV_DiscretePointCov erage
{n}
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«FeatureType»
TimeSeriesObserv ation
result
CV_DiscreteTimeInstantCov erage
«FeatureType»
ElementCov erageObserv ation
result
CV_DiscreteElementCov erage