Toward a Geoscientific Semantic Web Based on How Geoscientists Talk Across Disciplines

Abstract:

Are there terms and scientific concepts from math and science that almost all geoscientists understand? Is there a limited set of terms, patterns and language elements that geoscientists use for efficient, unambiguous communication that could be used to describe the variables that they measure, store in data sets and use as model inputs and outputs? In this talk it will be argued that the answer to both questions is "yes" by drawing attention to many such patterns and then showing how they have been used to create a rich set of naming conventions for variables called the CSDMS Standard Names. Variables, which store numerical quantities associated with specific objects, are the fundamental currency of science. They are the items that are measured and saved in data sets, which may then be read into models. They are the inputs and outputs of models and the items exchanged between coupled models. They also star in the equations that summarize our scientific knowledge. Carefully constructed, unambiguous and unique labels for commonly used variables therefore provide an attractive mechanism for automatic semantic mediation when variables are to be shared between heterogeous resources. They provide a means to automatically check for semantic equivalence so that variables can be safely shared in resource compositions. A good set of standardized variable names can serve as the hub in a hub-and-spoke solution to semantic mediation, where the "internal vocabularies" of geoscience resources (i.e. data sets and models) are mapped to and from the hub to facilitate interoperability and data sharing. When built from patterns and terms that most geoscientists are already familiar with, these standardized variable names are then "readable" by both humans and machines. Despite the importance of variables in scientific work, most of the ontological work in the geosciences is focused at a higher level that supports finding resources (e.g data sets) but not on describing the contents of those resources. The CSDMS Standard Names have matured continuously since they were first introduced over three years ago. Many recent extensions and applications of them (e.g. different science domains, different projects, new rules, ontological work) as well as their compatibility with the International System of Quantities (ISO 80000) will be discussed.