Me doing stuff: Open Geospatial Consortium

Showing posts with label Open Geospatial Consortium. Show all posts

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Making environmental research articles discoverable with OGC catalogue service

I am very happy to announce that our new article "Enhancing Location-related Hydrogeological Knowledge" has been published in the ISPRS International Jounral of Geo-information.

Kmoch, A.; Uuemaa, E.; Klug, H.; Cameron, S.G. (2018) Enhancing Location-Related Hydrogeological Knowledge. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. , 7, 132, http://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/7/4/132

In a joint study by the University of Tartu (Estonia), the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (New Zealand) and the University of Salzburg (Austria) more than 5,800 scientific articles from three environmental research journals were digitised and analysed. In addition, a geographical search method was developed to identify the location of a studied area.

We use Georeferencing of scientific journal articles and text-mining in order to provide spatial search capabilities for environmental research. Journal articles are made discoverable through spatial queries. We propose that journal publishers should provide these capabilities on their platforms. This would allow everyone to search for journal articles for their desired regions of interest and it would really well complement existing search functionalities with keywords etc.

The press release from Tartu University explains really nicely how our results enable geographic search for scientific papers through text mining and geocoding; and how to better find environmental research articles via location.

http://researchinestonia.eu/2018/04/17/enabling-geographic-search-for-scientific-papers-through-text-mining-and-geocoding-how-to-better-find-environmental-research-articles-via-location/

Estonian version of the press release: https://novaator.err.ee/821096/kuidas-otsida-teadustoid-geograafilise-piirkonna-jargi

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Place-Based Research in GIScience and Geoinformatics)
MDPI OpenAccess: http://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/7/4/132

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323990934_Enhancing_Location-Related_Hydrogeological_Knowledge

Monday, 26 March 2018

Interoperable exchange of groundwater data with OGC GroundWaterML2

WaterML2 has become a well-known synonym for internationally standardised hydrological data exchange, in particular for government agencies and research institutes across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Technically, WaterML2 is becoming a suite of standards actively promoted and endorsed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), more details: http://www.whycos.org/wordpress/?page_id=929)

- WaterML 2.0: Part 1 - Time series of Observations

- WaterML 2.0: Part 2 - Ratings, Gaugings and Sections

- WaterML 2.0: Part 3 - Surface Hydrology Features (aka HY_Features)

- WaterML 2.0: Part 4 - aka GroundWaterML 2 (GWML2) Data Exchange for Groundwater Features (including wells, springs, borelogs and well constructions)

Now there is a scientific publication that explains the GWML2 standard, its development and application in hydrogeology in detail:

"GWML2 is an international standard for the online exchange of groundwater data that addresses the problem of data heterogeneity. This problem makes groundwater data hard to find and use because the data are diversely structured and fragmented into numerous data silos. Overcoming data heterogeneity requires a common data format; however, until the development of GWML2, an appropriate international standard has been lacking. GWML2 represents key hydrogeological entities such as aquifers and water wells, as well as related measurements and groundwater flows. It is developed and tested by an international consortium of groundwater data providers from North America, Europe, and Australasia, and facilitates many forms of data exchange, information representation, and the development of online web portals and tools."

Brodaric, B., Boisvert, E., Chery, L. et al. (2018) Enabling global exchange of groundwater data: GroundWaterML2 (GWML2). Hydrogeology Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-018-1747-9

Related links and information:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10040-018-1747-9

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323914313_Enabling_global_exchange_of_groundwater_data_GroundWaterML2_GWML2

WaterML2 Part 4: GroundWaterML2 (GWML2) http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/gwml2

Groundwater SWG http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/groups/groundwaterswg

OGC GroundWaterML 2 – GW2IE FINAL REPORT https://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=64688

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Info Session for MSc programme in Geoinformatics for Urbanised Society

Today we broadcast a webinar info session about the new MSc programme in Geoinformatics for Urbanised Society at the University of Tartu.

One of the recurring core topics in this new MSc curriculum is Data and GIS use in Urban Planning.

Until just a decade ago spatial planning and analytics projects had problems with getting enough data. But nowadays there is so much data available, that it is increasingly hard to make sense of it – because of the 3 V’s of big data - volume, variety, velocity. The open data movement, government agencies, research institutes and citizen scientists alike make more and more data available publicly, mobile phones, sensor networks and satellites generate a multitude of datasets every day

In order solve the Interdisciplinary challenges of urban planning we want to empower you with skills and knowledge to analyse, visualise and understand processes and data. For that we teach the Full cycle of spatial data management, from the various methods of data acquisition, followed by efficient and practical processing techniques, to subsequent meaningful analysis and visualisation; in order to consequently make successful planning decisions for a sustainable future.

So what does it mean to study Geoinformatics for Urbanised Society with us in Tartu?

You will learn how to combine geography and IT in the age of BIG data. This is essentially what we believe modern Geoinformatics is representing. Mastering Geoinformatics will provide you with tools to analyse social and natural processes in space for interdisciplinary decision- and policy-making.

Watch the whole recorded session for more info:

Links:

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

A call to science and technology to work on standards for environmental data sharing

Which recent Geoscience related journal article has most influenced your work?

For me it was Laniak et al. (2013) "Integrated Environmental Modeling: A Vision and Roadmap for the Future". With a BSc in Computer Science I had worked in the IT industry before I started in academia. When I read Laniak et al. (2013) my Geography Master’s I knew that that was exactly how I would want to apply my computational background. Laniak et al. presented a vison for the future of integrated environmental modelling. They called to science and technology to work on standards for data sharing, and envisioned web-based platforms for transdisciplinary community interactions. I knew that science is not only about observations and theory. But it was then when I deeply understood how the capabilities of modern computers support research, make it reproducible and, thus, can accelerate research. The potential of linking people and knowledge from different disciplines in order to jointly understand natural processes and to make decisions together overwhelmed me. This landmark paper has since influenced me throughout my PhD and beyond.

Reference:

Laniak, Gerard F, Gabriel Olchin, Jonathan Goodall, Alexey Voinov, Mary Hill, Pierre Glynn, Gene Whelan, et al. 2013. “Integrated Environmental Modeling: A Vision and Roadmap for the Future.” Environmental Modelling & Software 39 (0):3–23. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.09.006

Friday, 18 August 2017

PhD Dissertation publicly accssible

My dissertation to achieve the degree 'Doctor of Philosophy' at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has the title:

A Context-based Groundwater Data Infrastructure

Online access via the AUT Online Library: http://hdl.handle.net/10292/10740

Abstract

Groundwater bodies are among the most important and valuable natural resources available, but at the same time they are also the least understood. To better understand the hydrological state of the environment and groundwater dynamics, data sets and measurements need to be made available and accessible to scientists, planners, and stakeholders to allow for proper decision making support. Information exchange via the internet has become faster, but at the same time data sets remain scattered both in location and formats. Present research in hydrogeology and freshwater resources management can be significantly supported and accelerated by relating, reusing and combining existing data sets, models and simulations in a streamlined, computer-aided and networked fashion and yield more new and reproducible insights.

In this thesis Design Science Research, Grounded Theory and Case Studies are applied in order to design a spatial data infrastructure that addresses the full data life cycle in the context of hydrogeology in New Zealand. This 'Hydrogeology Infrastructure' design was successfully implemented and evaluated via a networked and open standards-based prototype. Formerly disconnected and distributed data sets may now, for the first time, be used for hydrogeological data analysis, visualisation and modelling within one data portal.

My Supervisor(s)

Many thanks go out again to my supervisors who supported me continuously.

Assoc Prof Jacqueline Whalley (AUT, New Zealand); Assoc Prof Hermann Klug (Z_GIS, Salzburg University, Austria); Prof Philip Sallis (AUT, New Zealand)

The interested reader can find the publication also via ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319164590_A_Context-based_Groundwater_Data_Infrastructure

A Context-based #GroundwaterData Infrastructure #Hydrogeology #GIScience # SpatialDatahttps://t.co/QMpSKTpsp2
— Scholarly Commons (@AUT_SC) 17 August 2017

Saturday, 22 July 2017

OGC OWS GeoJSON

We are implementing OWC GeoJSON in the SAC groundwater portal as part of the SAC research program. In the latest OGC OWS Context GeoJSON Encoding Standard 14-055r2 we came across a few ambiguities that we couldn't solve for ourselves immediately.

I am summarising those subsequently here. The examples in the OGC Schemas repository are mostly still based on the former OWS-10 testbed results. Hut the OWC working group announced to update the official samples.

7.1.1 Class OWC:Context:

specReference: <xz>.properties.links.profiles requires the Specification Reference (requirements class) identifying that this is an OWC Context document and its version. Table 1 defines the data type as an Array of links profiles (as defined in Table 10 - data type "links") where one element SHALL have the href value “http://www.opengis.net/spec/owc-geojson/1.0/req/core”

But the multiplicity defines: One (mandatory) and the GeoJSON example 7.1.1.1 shows another different picture, which is only an array of String.

"links" : {
"profiles" : [
"http://www.opengis.net/spec/owc-geojson/1.0/req/core"
], ...
},

We implemented links.profiles as an array of links as objects of data type links from 7.1.10, table 10 with href, type, lang, title and length. And one mandatory link object element is required that has the specified core profile url.

Is that the desired behaviour?

Secondly, we found a quirk with the "<>.properties.links.via" description.

In 7.1.2 Class OWC:Resource "contextMetadata" is an Array of links as defined in Table 10 (Zero or more), and the example shows a JSON array. all good so far. However in OWC:Resource it is "resourceMetadata" also a "<>.properties.links.via" but explicitly call "Link object" (whereas links.data, links.previews and links.alternatives are Array of Link objects). But then in the column multiplicity it states "Zero or more" as with all the other link object arrays? But the example explicitly shows a single link object under the path "<>.properties.links.via":

"via" : {
"href" : "http://www.acme.com/products/algal20090123090856.xml",
"type" : "application/xml",
"length" : "435",
"title" : "XML metadata file for the entry 2009-01-23 09:08:56"
}

This is confusing. What is the intended behaviour? We chose an array of link objects to mimic the other link object arrays general behaviour. Is that appropriate?

Finally, there seems to be an exceptionally different behaviour for "7.1.1.9 creator". In OWC:Context there is only mentioned the path: <xz>.properties.creator

with a presumably wrong and irrelevant example:

"creator" : "ACME CSW Server”,

Because the abstract 7.1.7 DataType OWC:Creator is later typed into specific:

- owc:CreatorApplication - <xz>.properties.generator
(as defined in Table 8)

- owc:CreatorDisplay - <xz>.properties.display
(as defined in Table 9)

But the actual issue that I mean is that in 7.1.7 DataType OWC:Creator specifies at first a generic extension (without a JSON path, because it is abstract) - then extension for <xz>.properties.display.* in Table 9 - Definitions of owc:CreatorDisplay elements is explicitly described BUT COMPLETELY ABSENT for <xz>.properties.generator.* in Table 8 - Definitions of owc:Creator/OWC:CreatorApplication elements.

That seems either accidental or the reason is not obvious. We chose the freedom to allow for an extension in OWC:CreatorApplication the same way the extension is declared for ALL other data types.

If I can be of any help to improve the standard or provide material or examples, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to join an OWC Context working group if possible.

- Our GitHub repository: https://github.com/ZGIS/smart-owc-geojson
- OpenHub Open Source statistics: https://www.openhub.net/p/smart-owc-geojson
- Bintray Maven/Ivy artefacts download: https://bintray.com/allixender/ivy2/smart-owc-geojson

Looking forward to support the use of OGC OWC Context for data exchange in the geospatial web.

Alex