[obs] Species occurrences in OBOE

[Simon.Cox at csiro.au]

In O&M we made the point that some properties are asserted (e.g. identifiers, tract boundaries) while others are observed (e.g. height, weight, taxonomic classification, occurrence location). 
The observation model is primarily there to support quality assessments of the latter. 
Applying it the former is possible, but is really using the wrong tool for a very different job. 

Simon

-----Original Message-----
From: obs-bounces at ecoinformatics.org [mailto:obs-bounces at ecoinformatics.org] On Behalf Of Shawn Bowers
Sent: Friday, 17 December 2010 8:10 AM
To: Hilmar Lapp
Cc: Observational Data Interest Group
Subject: Re: [obs] Species occurrences in OBOE

Hi,

>> I don't know what you mean here by "direct observational measurements".
>
> A measurement resulting from or made in the course of an observation made by
> an identifiable observer, an individual.

This isn't a requirement in OBOE ... For instance, a measurement may
represent a computed value (e.g., average height).

> As opposed to a property or trait
> that represents domain knowledge such as the country code of Argentina,

OBOE can represent this type of information via domain ontologies.
There are many cases, however, where a nominal value is used for
identifying or differentiating entities, e.g., arbitrary plot
labels/ids. In this case, the entity is being
identified/differentiated within the context of a larger experiment,
and thus the label is a mechanism for observing/classifying the
context of other measurements.

> or
> that arose from executing a domain SOP, such as assigning a collection or
> sample URI.

Right, similar to country codes, this would most likely be an inherent
property of the sample or collection. Of course, it could still be
"observed".

One potential confusion is that often within a data set of
measurements, these are not meant as "ontological" definitions per se
(e.g., the purpose of including the identifier in a dataset is not to
assert that Argentina has a specific country code) but instead these
are surrogates (that were "observed") for the purpose of helping to
identify the entity in question. In this case they can serve as
additional "observations" made within an experiment to help provide
context to the individual that was measured.

Shawn


>
>        -hilmar
> --
> ===========================================================
> : Hilmar Lapp  -:- Durham, NC -:- informatics.nescent.org :
> ===========================================================
>
>
>
>
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