1. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20111 Overview of Geo Topics, Vocabularies, Semantics, Examples Gary Berg-Cross GeoVoCampDC2011

2. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20112 Why Discuss Geographic & Geo-Science Semantics? Movement towards a “seamless integration of geospatial intelligence (and Geospatial or Geo-Science applications) into mainstream IT solutions.” –Geo-Info needs support from better, useful information semantics

3. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20113 Spectrum of Geospatial Information Geometry (Precise), Features, Maps, GeoScience Models A polygonal area. <meta name="DC.coverage.spatial.region" content="1 1, 4 2, 5 4, 3 6, 2 3, 1 1"> Some precise math used for the geometry/shape of “features” Space Real World Objects Boundary Boxes For Natural Regions

4. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20114 Geographic and Geo-Science Semantics Geo-Science builds on Geo-Spatial semantics and adds some new vocabulary Examples include: – Geographic Entities have Regions…Land Use (Forests, Grass..), Land Cover (Tree, Shrub..) & Dynamics Land cover, biophysical attributes of the Earth’s surface, is a geographical feature class using climate, geology, soil type and landform features – these form a reference base for important applications ranging from forest & rangeland monitoring, planning, investment, biodiversity, climate change, desertification control, residential living, farming, production of business statistics etc.),

5. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20115 Lots of Taxonomic Vocabularies out there - e.g. COASTAL FEATURES AND SHORELINES COASTAL FEATURES AND SHORELINES Abandoned shoreline Ancient beach ridges Ancient cuspate bar, split and tombolo Barrier beach Battered sea cliff Bay Bay, Carolina Bayhead bar Baymouth bar Bayou Beach Bonneville and Provo shoreline Cape Coastal Bars Coastal terrace CoveCrowsfoot delta Deltaic channels Distributary channels, Abandoned Distributary channels Distributary stream on delta Diverted outlet Drowned coast line Drowned river Drowned valley Estuary Fiord Headland, truncated Lagoon Marine terrace Neck Okefenokee terrace Pamlico shoreline Pamlico terrace Pass Point Prograded shore Raised beach ridges Raised spit and hook Sand spit Sea stacks Silver Bluff beach, lagoon, and shoreline Silver Bluff terrace Spit, compound recurved Tidal marsh or swamp Tombolo Wave-cut cliff Wicomico terrace ESCARPMENT FEATURES ESCARPMENT FEATURES, GLACIATION FEATURES FORMED BY ALPINE GLACIATION etc.GLACIATION FEATURES FORMED BY ALPINE GLACIATION

6. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20116 Darwin Core – from dcterms:Locationdcterms:Location locationID higherGeographyID higherGeography continent waterBody islandGroup island country countryCode stateProvince county municipality locality verbatimLocality verbatimElevation minimumElevationInMeters maximumElevationInMetersverbatimElevation minimumElevationInMeters maximumElevationInMeters verbatimDepth minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMetersminimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters minimumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters maximumDistanceAboveSurfaceInMeters locationAccordingTo locationRemarks verbatimCoordinates verbatimLatitude verbatimLongitude verbatimCoordinateSystem verbatimSRS decimalLatitude decimalLongitude geodeticDatum coordinateUncertaintyInMeters coordinatePrecision pointRadiusSpatialFit footprintWKT footprintSRS footprintSpatialFit georeferencedBy georeferenceProtocol georeferenceSourcesgeoreferenceProtocolgeoreferenceSources georeferenceVerificationStatus georeferenceRemarks See http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Locat ion http://code.google.com/p/darwincore/wiki/Locat ion

7. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20117 Class Sketches One might sketch out some scope of interest and ground these is a general concept and some terms of interest – for example landscapes or landforms Geographic Entity Agent-Based Models of Land-Use & Land-Cover Change Report & Review of an Intern Workshop October 4–7, 2001, dcterms:Locationdcterms:Location + A spatial region or named place.+

8. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20118 3 Parts of Useful Information Semantics A vocabulary that defines the nature of the instances and their descriptive attributes. Rivers, streams & brooks. So a geospatial vocabulary should allow a way of talking about Topology of connection/disconnectedness, nearness/farness, & complex regions 2 & 3D structures 2-4D Directions, orientations and multiple frames of reference, –Earth’s north-south, our left-right, boat’s port-starboard, upstream… Shape, size, length, distance, area, volume and scale, Dimensions Spatial aggregates etc. A schema (explicit) of some nature that describes the structural relationships amongst instances and their characteristics, and A mapping of the above to existing DB schema or constructs that help place real data into context.

9. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC20119 The OpenGIS Feature Geometry (ISO 19107 Spatial Schema) Objects GM Object GM Clothoid TP Object GM Boundary GM Offset Curve TP Boundary GM ComplexBoundary GM Knot TP ComplexBoundary GM PrimitiveBoundary GM KnotType TP PrimitiveBoundary GM CurveBoundary GM SplineCurve TP EdgeBoundary GM Ring GM PolynomialSpline TP FaceBoundary GM SurfaceBoundary GM CubicSpline TP SolidBoundary GM Shell GM SplineCurveForm TP Ring GM SolidBoundary GM BSplineCurve TP Shell GM Primitive GM Bezier TP Primitive…..

10. Geo-Topics GeoVoCampDC201110 Example of Types of Improvements to Semantics Understanding the Domain –What’s the general usage of terms in a domain? Area feature - A geographic entity that encloses a region; for example, a landscape, lake, administrative area, or state. –Geographic entity - A real-world feature that is of interest; something about which data is stored. –65 feature classes listed in USGS Gazetteer Feature Classes Describing that understanding in “better” vocabularies –Both rivers and trees have branches but these terms are not the same concept. Ontologies are more like full logical theories provide a better defined vocabulary of terms –These describe domains in terms of general (classes), that are explicitly related and logically constructed from base terms rivers are bodies of water, (sub-type relation) –as well as provide roles and relationships between instantiated individuals The source of the North Branch Potomac river is in West Virginia –New terms can be formed by combining existing ones