]> oboe-core http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Copyright (c) 2006-2012 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. Version 1.1 release candidate 1 This ontology provides the core OBOE modeling constructs. A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually the same class as (i.e., conceptually equivalent to) the concept identified in the annotation value. If the value of the annotation property denotes an OWL class, then the sameConceptAsClass annotation property should be used instead. A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually the same class as (i.e., conceptually equivalent to) the referenced class (as given by the value of the annotation property). Note that being conceptually the same can differ from strict class equivalance in that the two classes may have different structural definitions within their specific ontologies, e.g., their superclasses and subclasses in the respective ontologies may differ. A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually similar (e.g., overlapping), but not identical to the referenced class (the value of the annotation property). A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually similar (e.g., overlapping), but not identical to the concept identified by the value of the annotation property. If the value of the annotation property denotes an OWL class, then the similarConceptAsClass annotation property should be used instead. The characteristicFor property gives the entity of the characteristic. The entityRelated property asserts that the entity of one observation has an observed relationship to the entity in another observation. The hasBaseQualifier together with the hasNextQualfiier property allows qualifier characteristics to be combined and ordered. For example, for an MinimumDailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to Minimum and the hasNextQualifier refers to a DailyAverage qualifier, and for a DailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to a Daily qualifier and the hasNextQualifier refers to an Average qualifier. The hasContext property asserts that one observation serves as the context for another observation. In a hasContext property the domain is the observation being contextualized and the range is the context. Context defines a semantic relationship between two entities that is a fundamental aspect of the observations, but not necessarily of the entities themselves. For example, most measurements are accomplished in a spatio-temporal framework that might be valuable context. The assertions made by contextual observations are assumed of the contextualized observations. Context is a transitive relationship. The hasMeasurement property gives the measurements of the observed entity. The hasMember property gives the observations of an observation collection. The hasNexQualifier together with the hasBaseQualfiier property allows qualifier characteristics to be combined and ordered. For example, for an MinimumDailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to Minimum and the hasNextQualifier refers to a DailyAverage qualifier, and for a DailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to a Daily qualifier and the hasNextQualifier refers to an Average qualifier. The hasObservedRelation property gives the observed relation of an observation. The observation entity is the source (head) entity of the corresponding relationship that was observed. The hasQualifier property assigns an optional characteristic qualifier to a physical characteristic. Examples of qualifiers are Average, Minimum, Maximum, Daily, etc. The hasSourceUnit property gives the source unit being converted from within a unit conversion. The hasTargetUnit property gives the target unit being converted to within a unit conversion. The hasUnit property gives the underlying base or derived unit for a derived or composite unit, respectively. The hasValue property gives the value of the measurement. The measurementFor property gives the observation (observed entitiy) that a measurement is associated with. Each measurement is for exactly one observation. The ofCharacteristic property gives the entity characteristic measured by a measurement. The ofEntity property gives the observed entity of an observation. The usesProtocol property gives the protocol used in a measurement. The usesStandard property gives the standard (e.g., unit) used in a measurement. The hasCode property gives the underlying value (or coded representation) of a primitive value. The hasMultiplier property gives the multiplier value in a unit conversion. The hasOffset property gives the offset value in a unit conversion. The hasPower property gives the power a base unit is raised to within a derived unit. This property gives the precision of a measurement value. The usesMethod property gives the actual method used to carry out the measurement. Base Characteristic Qualifier A base qualifier denotes a simple, atomic qualifier such as average, minimum, and maximum. Base Unit A base unit is a unit that is not naturally decomposed into other units. Characteristic A characteristic represents a property of an entity that can be measured (e.g., height, length, or color). A characteristic of an entity is observed through a measurement, which further asserts a value of the characteristic for the entity. A characteristic type (e.g., "height") can be associated with many different entities, whereas an individual characteristic (a particular occurrence of the "height" characteristic) is associated to exactly one entity. Characteristic Qualifier A characteristic qualifier is a derived property of an entity that must be combined with concrete characteristics to be used in a measurement. A qualifier is either a base (atomic) or composite qualifier. As an example, the base qualifier minimum can be combined with a characteristic length to create a minimum length qualified characteristic. A composite qualifer is used to combine multiple qualifiers. Composite Characteristic Qualifier 1 1 A composite qualifier combines multiple qualifiers. Each composite qualifier has a base qualifier and a reference to another qualifier. Composite qualifiers are ordered (through hasNextQualifier) to distinguish between the scope of qualifiers, e.g., AverageMinimum versus MinimumAverage. Composite Unit 2 A composite unit is the product of at least two base or derived units. For example, 'meter per second square' denotes a composite unit defined over 'meter' (a base unit) and 'per second square' (a derived unit). Derived Unit 0 1 1 A derived unit raises a base or prefixed unit to an integer power other than 0 or 1. For example, the unit 'square meter' is a unit derived from the 'meter' base unit raised to the power 2. As another example, a 'square centimeter' is a unit derived from the 'centimeter' prefixed unit raised to the power 2. Entity An entity is an object (e.g., a tree, a community, an ecological process). Entities constitute the foci of observations, i.e., every observation is of exactly one entity. Measurement Value A measurement value is a quantitative or qualitative result of a measurement. Measurement values can contain a coded representation of the result, e.g., as a number or string. Measurement 1 A measurement is an assertion that a characteristic of an entity had a particular value with respect to an observation event. A measurement is comprised of a characteristic, a value, a measurement standard, and a protocol. Measurements can also have precision as well as a description of the methods used. Measurements can encapsulate characteristics that were recorded, but not necessarily measured in a physical sense. For example, the name of a location and a taxon can be captured through measurements. Name A name characteristic provides the name (or label) used for identifying (either globally or within a context) an entity. Observation An observation is an assertion that an entity (e.g., biological organisms, geographic locations, or environmental features, among others) was observed by an observer. An observation primarily serves to group a set of measurements together into a single "observation event". Observations are often made within a broader context. The context of an observation is given by other observations, implying that an observed entity (and specifically each corresponding measurement) contextualizes another observed entity (and its corresponding measurements). For example, an observation associated with a location may serve as context for an observation associated with an organism. In this case, the observed characteristic values of the location (such as humidity) are assumed constant for the corresponding measurements of the organism. Observation Collection An observation collection is a container for a set of observations. Physical Characteristic A physical characteristic of an entity is one that is measurable within the physical world. A physical characteristic subsumes primary and derived physical dimensions (e.g., length, mass, area, density). The measured value assigned to a physical characteristic may be a quantity (a numerical value) or a quality (a label). 0 1 A prefixed unit consists of a base unit and a prefix integer value that serves as a multiplier. For example, a centimeter is a prefixed unit that combines a meter base unit and the prefix multiplier 0.01 such that one centimeter is equivalent to 0.01 meters. Protocol A protocol is a procedure for generating or processing data. Standard A standard defines a reference for comparing or naming entities via a measurement. A standard can be defined intentionally (e.g., as in the case of units) or extensionally (by listing the values of the standard, e.g., for color this might be red, blue, yellow, etc). Unit A unit is a standard quantification for physical measurements. A unit is either a base unit, a composite unit, or a derived unit. Unit Conversion A unit conversion is a mapping from a source unit to a target unit via a multiplier and an offset value.