[obs] Observations Workshop thank you and email list

[Cushing, Judy]

that sounds like a good solution - it is essentially what we do, too, though we don't have 'source' tables, or explicit types, since our metatadata is informal, and that info goes into a metadata table....
 
judy

________________________________

From: Kristin Barker [mailto:Kristin_Barker at natureserve.org]
Sent: Thu 7/19/2007 12:44 PM
To: Cushing, Judy
Cc: Matthew Jones
Subject: RE: [obs] Observations Workshop thank you and email list



Hi Judy,

 

In our system, we attempted to balance the need to accommodate data attributes that are rather loosely specified (e.g., historical data) with the need for highly specific queries on the part of data consumers.

 

Dates are complex types that support a single specific date/time ( time defaults to noon) or a date/time range.  The range thus allows users to enter the observation date as a range translated from a season or year.   At query time, users express a date range for the query and have the option of including only those observations whose date falls completely within (versus all those that overlap) the query date range.

 

Similarly, observation locations are generally points but can also be expressed as lines (e.g. stream reach) or polygons (e.g., plots, ecosystem, watershed or political boundaries).  Again, observation queries can support either overlapping or completely within the queried area.

 

Matt,  Did the wiki get put up and I missed it?  We should probably be having this dialogue on line.

 

Kristin

 

From: obs-bounces at ecoinformatics.org [mailto:obs-bounces at ecoinformatics.org] On Behalf Of Cushing, Judy
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 3:15 PM
To: Matthew Jones; obs at ecoinformatics.org
Subject: Re: [obs] Observations Workshop thank you and email list

 

hi all,

 

just a quick note on the 'date' and 'location' attributes for observation data....

 

lee and i briefly talked about discussions you guys had on this at the workshop, and her input about what we learned from our review of 500+ articles in canopy research.

 

a few observations to add to what lee said (i think):

 

1. trees are rather slow growing, so researchers typically do not record the exact date and time of an observation (this might not be a 'best practice' though, since the date/time might help for understand data errors, we've found).  however, they DO know (and typically record in metadata, just once, in one place), the year or season of a collection of observations.

 

2.  while exact location is NOT often taken (it is not usually possible or even desirable), relative location is often taken.  even where it is not, there are usually some location indicator - at the least eco-system, for example, or site, or plot.  

 

i haven't yet read the report, and stuff on the wiki, but wanted to get this clarification out, in case it is useful.

 

judy

________________________________

From: obs-bounces at ecoinformatics.org on behalf of Matthew Jones
Sent: Thu 7/12/2007 7:20 PM
To: obs at ecoinformatics.org
Subject: [obs] Observations Workshop thank you and email list

Hello everyone,

On behalf of the workshop organizers, I want to thank you for your time
and generous contributions to the Observations data modeling workshop
this week held at NCEAS.  The workshop was a great success, and we are
looking forward to continuing to work with you towards a shared model
for observational data that can promote interoperability among our
science communities.

We will be posting additional materials from the workshop to the wiki
over the next few days, and starting on the consolidation of the
workshop findings next week.

In the meantime, we've created the mailing list for the workshop:
   obs at ecoinformatics.org

We welcome continued discussions of the issues that were brought up
during the workshop.  I have subscribed each of the workshop invitees,
and you can manage your mailing list subscription here:
   http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/obs

Regards,

Matt

PS Remember that reimbursement information was in your workshop packet
(you can also download forms from http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/visitors).
Please direct any questions about reimbursement to nceas at nceas.ucsb.edu.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew B. Jones
Director of Informatics Research and Development
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
UC Santa Barbara
jones at nceas.ucsb.edu
http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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