GCIS Ontology
GCIS Ontology
2015-11-03
2.0
An ontology designed for the Global Change Information System (GCIS) of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP, http://www.globalchange.gov). The ontology is available at: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcis.owl. The ontology uses the namespace prefix gcis.
This ontology was originally developed by the USGCRP in support of the Third National Climate Assessment. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute participation in the initial phase of this activity was funded through the GCIS-IMSAP project (2012-2013) at the Tetherless World Constellation. More details of that project are accessible at: http://tw.rpi.edu/web/project/gcis-imsap.
Xiaogang Ma
Stephan Zednik
Curt Tilmes
Peter Fox
Robert E. Wolfe
Jin Guang Zheng
Justin C. Goldstein
Linyun Fu
Brian Duggan
Patrick West
Steve Aulenbach
Chengcong Du
Jun Xu
Anusha Akkiraju
Publication
A distinct work with intent to communicate information that has been made available
Report
An account given of a particular matter, especially in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or body.
Chapter
One of the main divisions of a relatively lengthy piece of writing, such as a book, that is usually numbered and/or titled.
Committee
A group of people officially delegated to perform a function, such as investigating, considering, reporting, or acting on a matter.
Finding
A significant point or central theme of a investigation.
Figure
A graphical/visual item in a publication that normally is referred to by a number and that has a caption.
InstrumentType
A type of tool or device used for a particular task, especially for scientific work.
Instrument
A physical instantiation of a tool or device used for a particular task, especially for scientific work.
instrument type
A specific type of instrument
Model
A simplified description or particular design, especially a mathematical one, of a system or process, to assist calculations and predictions.
Region
A spatial area defined by a common characteristic (e.g. coastal, southwest, rural communities, etc.).
Spatial Extent
A spatial region defined by a bounding box.
Spatial Resolution
The detail with which a map or image depicts the location and shape of geographic features. The finer the map scale, the higher the possible resolution. As scale decreases from fine to coarse, resolution diminishes and feature boundaries must be smoothed, simplified, or not shown at all; for example, small areas may have to be represented as points.
Temporal Extent
An interval of time defined by its start and end dates or datetimes.
Temporal Resolution
The precision or frequency of a measurement with respect to time. Often there is a tradeoff between temporal resolution of a measurement and its spatial resolution.
Algorithm
A process or a set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations.
Platform
A scientific data collection entity to which other entities - particuarly instruments, sensors and other platforms - can be attached.
Observation System
One or more sensing elements that directly or indirectly collect observations of the Earth, measure environmental parameters, or survey biological or other Earth resources (land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans). Sensing elements may be deployed as individual sensors or in constellations or networks and may include instrumentation or human elements.
has sensing element
An observation system may consist of one or more sensing elements such as individual sensors, instruments, platforms and humans.
has chapter
A publication may have a number of chapters.
has committee
A report such as the National Climate Assessment may have a committee that is in charge of the writing and reviewing of that report.
has author
A resource may have one or more authors.
has finding
A publication may contain findings.
has figure
A publication contains one or more graphical components which most times but not necessarily are numbered and contain titles and captions .
related project
An entity ascribed to a project through an unspecified activity
works at
A person works at an organization.
has image
A figure contains a graphical component.
has array
A table contains one more arrays.
source instrument
A dataset was collected by using one or more instruments.
source model
A dataset was generated by using one or more models.
in platform
An instrument is deployed on a platform.
has instrument
A platform has one or more instruments.
implemented in
An algorithm is implemented in a software system.
implements
A software system implements one or more algorithms.
has member
An agent has some members.
has governing organization
An organization is responsible for a project.
data center
A dataset is curated at a data center.
Measuring
The act or the process of finding the size, quantity or degree of something.
Table
Facts or or numbers arranged in a special order, usually in rows and columns.
Sensor
Sensing is a process that results in the estimation, or calculation, of the value of a phenomenon. An entity that can follow a sensing method and thus observe some property of a feature of interest. Sensors may be physical devices, computational methods, a laboratory setup with a person following a method, or any other thing that can follow a sensing method to observe a property.
Report Generation
An activity that generates reports.
Chapter Writing
An activity that writes chapters.
Figure Compiling
An activity that compiles figures.
Table Compiling
An activity that compiles tables.
Publication Preparation
A activity that prepares publications.
Dataset Capture
An activity that captures datasets.
Model Run Output
Results generated by running a model.
Traceable Account
comment content is from: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/supporting-material/uncertainty-guidance-note.pdf
A description of the evaluation of the type, amount, quality, and consistency of evidence and the degree of agreement, which together form the basis for a given finding.
Confidence Assertion
The confidence assertion of a traceable account.
Level
A parameter used to indicate the reliability of traceable accounts.
Very High
Strong evidence (established theory, multiple sources, consistent results, well documented and accepted methods, etc.), high consensus.
High
Moderate evidence (several sources, some consistency, methods vary and/or documentation limited, etc.), medium consensus.
Medium
Suggestive evidence (a few sources, limited consistency, models incomplete, methods emerging, etc.), competing schools of thought.
Low
Inconclusive evidence (limited sources, extrapolations, inconsistent findings, poor documentation and/or methods not tested, etc.), disagreement or lack of opinions among experts.
Calibration
A comparison between measurements: comparing a measurement to an observed measurement or to a measurement that is deemed accurate.
has table
A publication may contain tables.
The domain of gcis:sourceDataset covers various classes, so it is left as undefined.
source dataset
A figure, table, publication, etc. may be based on one or more datasets.
source algorithm
A dataset may be based on one or more algorithms.
has sensor
An instrument may have one or more sensors.
in instrument
A sensor may be deployed in one or more instruments.
target sensor
A calibration is applied to its target sensors.
publication status
The status of the publication of a document.
has traceable account
A finding may have a traceable account.
has confidence
A finding has a confidence assertion.
subject
A publication, figure, message, dataset, etc. may use one or more concepts as subject.
The domain of gcis:hasFundingAgency covers various classes, so it is left as undefined.
has funding agency
A project, software, instrument, etc. may be funded by an agent.
has input dataset
An activity may have input datasets.
version
has spatial resolution
Description of the smallest quantity that is discernable in a geographic feature.
has temporal resolution
The frequency of an observation.
was produced by
A report was produced by an activity of report producing.
was written by
A chapter was writen by an activity of chapter writing.
was prepared by
A publication was prepared by an activity of publication preparation.
was captured by
A dataset was captured by an activity of dataset capturing.
was compiled by
A figure was compiled by an activity of figure compiling.
Project
A piece of planned work that is designed to achieve a particular aim.
Organization
An instititution such as an agency, a company, a society, a university, etc.
Person
A human as an individual.
Group
A number of individual agents that are connected.
Software Agent
A software agent is a running software system.
Agent
Someone or something that bears some form of responsibility for an activity taking place, for the existence of an entity, or for another agent's activity.
Dataset
Any organized collection of data or information that has a common theme. Examples include lists, tables, and databases, etc.
Image
A copy of something in the form of a visual representation. Examples include images and photographs of physical objects, paintings, prints, drawings, other images and graphics, animations and moving pictures, film, diagrams, maps, musical notation, etc.
Array
A collection of numbers, signs or values arranged in rows and columns.
Software
The programs, etc. used to operate a computer.
Location
A geographic place such as a city or non-geographic place such as a directory, row, or column.
Image Creation
An activity that creates images.
The domain of gcis:atLocation covers various classes, so it is left as undefined.
at location
Something is at a geographic or non-geographic place.
chapter number
A chapter may have a sequential number.
figure number
A figure may be numbered sequentially.
finding number
A finding may be numbered sequentially.
key finding
The text of the Finding of a Highly Influential Scientific Assessment.
finding process
A finding contains a description of the process used in order to reach it.
description of evidence base
A finding contains additional information about the quality of the information used in reaching the Finding.
new information and remaining uncertainties
A finding contains a description of the new science developments over a specified timerange, which also includes information about remaining sources of Scientific uncertainty.
assessment of confidence based on evidence
A finding contains a description of the level of confidence which the authors have in it.
has URL
A resource may have a digital home accessible at a given address on the World Wide Web.
sub-organization of
An Organization is a component of another organization.
has publisher
A publication has a publisher that produced it and made it available to the public.
used
An activity uses entities when the activity is being undertaken.
has caption
A figure or table has a caption that explains or describes it.
Mission
An official job with which individual(s) and/or groups are tasked.
Experiment
A scientific test which is conducted to ascertain the response to an external event/stimulus.
Program
A plan of things that will be done or included in the development of something.
Expedition
An organized journey with a particular purpose.
Scenario
Sets of assumptions used to help understand potential future conditions such as population growth, land use, and sea level rise. Scenarios are neither predictions nor forecasts. Scenarios are commonly used for planning purposes.
describes scenario
A resource may describe one or more scenarios.
is described in
A scenario is described in a resource.
table number
The number of a table in a publication.
byte size
The size of a dataset in bytes.
contact point
The point of contact for a dataset.
extent type code
The extent type code of a spatial extent.
west bound longitude
The value of west bound longitude.
east bound longitude
The value of east bound longitude.
south bound latitude
the value of south bound latitude.
north bound latitude
The value of north bound latitude.
started at
The start date/time of a temporal extent.
start date
The start date of a temporal extent
ended at
The end date/time of a temporal extent.
end date
The end date of a temporalExtent
resolution
The degree of fineness with which an image can be recorded or produced.
equivalent scale
The equivalent scale of a graph.
has temporal unit
A temporal resolution has one or more temporal units.
Temporal Unit
A collection of temporal units used for measuring time.
Unit Type
A type that allows only one value.
Unit Second
Second is a basic temporal unit.
Unit Minute
A minute is 60 seconds.
Unit Hour
An hour is 60 minutes.
Unit Day
A day is 24 hours.
Unit Week
A week is seven days.
Unit Month
A month is 28 to 31 days.
Unit Year
A year is 12 months.
is traceable account of
A traceable account supports a finding.
is chapter of
A chapter is in a publication.
is image of
An image appears in one or more figures.
is array of
An array appears in one or more tables.
is figure of
A figure appears in a publication.
is table of
A table appears in a publication.
is finding of
A finding is described and emphasized in a publication.
is member of
The relationship that an agent belongs to another agent.
is author of
An agent can be the author of one or more publications.
is publisher of
An agent can be the publisher of one or more publications.
has sub-organization
Represents hierarchical containment of Organizations or OrganizationalUnits; indicates an organization which is a sub-part or child of this organization.
is supported by
A finding may be supported by or depicted in a few resources, such as data, figures, models, and software, etc.
computing environments used
Description of the computing environment(s) associated with an activity
description of output files
Narrative description of one or more files generated by an activity
Book
A written or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
Journal
A periodical of scholarly journal Articles.
Academic Article
A scholarly article, typically published in a journal.
Indicator
Indicators are observations or calculations that can be used to track conditions and trends
Webpage
A web page is an online document available (at least initially) on the World Wide Web. A web page is written first and foremost to appear on the web, as distinct from other online resources such as books, manuscripts or audio documents which use the web primarily as a distribution mechanism alongside other more traditional methods such as print.
Cryptographic Hash
A cryptographic hash value computed for the purpose of authentication or verification of a digital entity
cryptographic hash
A cryptographic hash value computed for this digital entity
hash function
The function used to compute a hash value.
recommended citation
when citing this resource please use this recommended citation
derived from scenario
A model run output was derived from one or more scenarios that was used in the model run.
derived model run outputs
Outputs of a model run based on this scenario.
contributed model
A project contributed to the creation of one or more models.