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Ecoterm IV

Ecoterm IV – Vienna17 – 18 April 2007

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Ecoterm IV - Vienna

EcoInformatics InitiativeEcoInformatics Initiative

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Semantic Integration of Environmental Data

Herbert Schentz

START

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Overview

Integrating Environmental Data

Why We Need Semantics

Helpful Technologies

Ontologies in Networks

Final Considertions

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Ecologists need data of various parts of nature

?

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Data are often stored in different databases at different sites

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Lots of questions are not even posed because getting data is too difficult

?

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Overview

Integrating Environmental Data

Why We Need Semantics

Helpful Technologies

Ontologies in Networks

Final Considertions

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When you want to integrate the data many questions arise

How was measuring (observation) done ?Which unit ?Which vegetation layer?, soil layer?, species ?How were the measurement sites selected ?When was the measurement done ?How often was the measurement repeated ?Who did the measurement ?Which important measurement was done in parallel ?Within which project was it done ?Special circumstances of measurement ?....

... the meaning of data and metadata !

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attached Information ?

It would be fine if the data would haveattached something similar to the bar-codeof products which allows to identify a lot of qualities of the product just by reading it

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The power of the barcode is the meaning connected to it

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Meaning is a sample of terms with relations between them

producer

product name

price

main deliverer

product declarations

transport

stock

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Meaning is a sample of terms with relations between them

unit

value

Measurement site

limit of detection ....

vegetation layer

species

parametermeasured on

has value

has value

measured for

measured inlies in

inwith limit of dedection

in

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We need a connection from the data to a description of their meaning

ontology

People who share a common description of the meaning of the data (common ontology) and have a common protocol for the interconnection

can instantly correctly share their data.

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Interfaces, Thesauri, Metadata, Ontologies

Thesauri

More relations and rules

Metadata

Knowledge Representation

Interfaces

+ semantic interoperabilityOntologies

Machine readability

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Overview

Integrating environmental Data

Why we need Semantics

Helpful Technologies

Ontologies in Networks

Final Considertions

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Technologies of the Semantic Web

The technologies of the semantic web can help us:They are designed to build structures that express meaning share those structures connect resources distributed all over the web be extended

The basic construct is the RDF (Resource Description Framework) - triple

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RDF – the tripples

Cat mouse

mamal

is a is a

hunts

tail leg head

has has has

child

bears

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Another set of RDF tripples

Soil measurement

result when

site parameter method

wherewhat how

layer

On what

timestampvalue

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RDFS / OWL the classes of tripples

Soil measurement

result when

site parameter method

where what how

layer

On what

timestampvalue

Definition

S120A_Mg_2000

result when

S120A Mg AAS

where what how

Layer B

On what

2000-06-040.003

= Class= OWL / RDFS

Special Thing= instance

= RDF

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Features of RDFS / OWL (1)

Classes can be inhertited

animal

mammal

rodent

mouse

isA

isA

isAWhich means that mouse canalways be treated as a rodent as a mammal as an animalWherever rodent is allowed ,mouse is allowed too(Polymorphism)

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Features of RDF / RDFS / OWL (2)

All Entities (Classes, Relations, Instances can be distributed over several namespaces)

WWW

ontology onvegetation

regions

ontology onbirds

ontology onbirdwatching

sites

ALTERRA (NL)GBIF

Umweltbundesamt (A)

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Features of OWL (3)

Relations can have restrictions (cardinalities,...)

cat mousehunt

some

mammal headhas

all 1

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RDF / RDFS and OWL are W3C recomandations

RDF / RDFS / OWL

• They are constructed to be especially effective within the web (distributed ontologies)• Lots of Communities are adopting them as standards• Several tools exist for working with them:

• Editors• Mapping tools rdbs – ontologies• Mapping tools ontologies – GISs• Transformation Tools XSDs Ontologies• ……

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Overview

Integrating Environmental Data

Why We Need Semantics

Helpful Technologies

Ontologies in Networks

Final Considertions

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What else do we need ?

ontologies

Data that can be linked to ontologies

mappings

query engines search engines(geo) graphical displays......

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integrating environmental applications

I

ontology

With semantically defined interfaces of webservices

„SAWSDL“

Massflow CalculationAllowed Substances „Heavy Metals“ Allowed Plants „Vascular Plants“ & „Mosses“Allowed Soil „Rentsina“Allowed gographical Region „Alpine Region“

Ouput „Distribution“ after time t in „days“

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What do we need to build ontologies

ThesauriMetadata Structures

Collaboration efforts Knowledge

Existing ongologies

Tools for collaborative developement of ontologies

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Overview

Integrating Environmental Data

Why We Need Semantics

Helpful Technologies

Ontologies in Networks

Final Considertions

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The socio- political component

„.... This is more a social task than a technical task“, Midori Harris said at a conference on

Ontologies in Edinburgh.

We all knocked our heads. – so did I-

and

We went home to work on our technical solutions.

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Vicious circle

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Positive spirale

Semantic InteroperabilityBased on Ontologies

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Ecoterm IV – Vienna17 – 18 April 2007

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Ecoterm IV - Vienna

EcoInformatics InitiativeEcoInformatics Initiative

Thank you for your attention

I wish us a fruitfull conference

herbert.schentz@umweltbundesamt.at

http://www.umweltbundesamt.at