9 Controlled vocabulary for eMoF

Content

9.1 Map eMoF measurement identifiers to preferred vocabulary

MeasurementOrFact vocabulary background

Although Darwin Core guidance recommends using controlled vocabulary to populate the MeasurementOrFact terms measurementType, measurementValue, and measurementUnit, in many cases these fields are completely unconstrained and are populated with free text. While free text offers the advantage of capturing complex and as yet unclassified information, there is inevitable semantic heterogeneity (e.g., of spelling, wording, or language) that becomes a challenge for effective data interoperability and analysis. For example, if you were interested in finding all records related to length measurements, you would have to try to account for all the different ways “length” was recorded by data providers (length, Length, len, fork length, etc.).

Caution: You can use the OBIS Measurement Type search tool to see the diversity of measurementTypes that exist across published datasets in OBIS. However note that any measurementTypeIDs listed in this tool are solely for consultation purposes. In some cases codes may have been incorrectly chosen for the associated measurementType. You should always choose measurementTypeIDs based on your own data and the guidelines in this manual.

Thus the 3 identifier terms measurementTypeID, measurementValueID and measurementUnitID are used to standardize the measurement types, values and units. The identifiers provide clear and unambiguous definitions, ensuring dataset consistency and simplifying grouping and analysis of measurements by their Unique Resource Identifiers (URIs).

These three terms should be populated using controlled vocabularies referenced using URIs. For OBIS, we recommend using the internationally recognized NERC Vocabulary Server, developed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC). However, you may use any vocabulary source that has machine-interopable URIs. The NERC Vocabulary Server can be accessed through:

Controlled vocabularies are incredibly important to ensure data are interoperable - readable by both humans and machines - and that the information is presented in an unambiguous manner. Vocabulary collections like NVS compile vocabularies from different institutions and authorities (e.g., ISO, ICES, EUNIS), allowing you to map your data to them. In this way, you could search for a single measurementTypeID and obtain all related records, regardless of differences in wording or language used in the data.

Each vocabulary “term” in NVS is a concept that describes a specific idea or meaning. For consistency, we refer to individual vocabularies in NVS as concepts. Concepts within NVS are organized into collections that group concepts with commonalities (e.g. all concepts pertaining to units). Sometimes collections contain concepts that are deprecated. Terms can be deprecated due to duplication of concepts, or when a term becomes obsolete. You should not use any deprecated concepts for any measurement ID. Deprecated concepts can be identified from lists on NVS because their identifier will have a red warning symbol, and the page for the term itself will indicate the concept is deprecated in red lettering. Unfortunately, there is currently no notification system in place to automatically warn you if a previously used concept has become deprecated. We recommend occasionally confirming that the concepts you or your institution use are still available for use.

Guidelines for populating each mesaurement ID are described below.

9.1.1 Populate measurementUnitID

The measurementUnitID field is the easiest measurement ID field to populate. It is used to provide a URI for the unit associated with the value provided to measurementValue (e.g. cm, kg, kg/m2). This field should be populated with concepts from the P06 collection, BODC-approved data storage units. Documentation for this collection can be found here.

The entire vocabulary list, including deprecated terms can be found at http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current. However, we strongly recommend using https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/vocabularies/vocabulary_search/P06/ to avoid potentially selecting deprecated terms.

Some examples of measurementUnits and the associated measurementUnitID include:

9.1.2 Populate measurementValueID

The measurementValueID field is used to provide an identifying code for measurementValues that are non-numerical (e.g. sampling related, sex or life stage designation, etc.).

measurementValueID is NOT used for standardizing numeric measurements!

Unlike measurementUnitID, there is more than one collection which may be used to search for and use concepts from. The collection is dependent on which type of measurementValue you have. See the table below for some common, non-exhaustive examples. Note that behaviour is an exception in that we recommend to use codes from the ICES vocabulary server, instead of NERC. The video below, from the OBIS YouTube Vocabulary series , demonstrates how to find and select vocabularies for measurementValueID from both NERC and ICES.

Type of measurementValue Collection Collection Documentation Complete Vocabulary List
Sex (gender) S10 https://github.com/nvs-vocabs/S10 <http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S10/current/
Lifestage S11 https://github.com/nvs-vocabs/S11 http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S11/current/
Sampling instruments and sensors (SeaVoX Device Catalogue) L22 https://github.com/nvs-vocabs/L22 http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current
Sampling instrument categories (SeaDataNet device categories) L05 https://github.com/nvs-vocabs/L05 <http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current
Vessels (ICES Platform Codes) C17 - http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/C17/current
European Nature Information System Level 3 Habitats C35 - https://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/C35/current/
Behaviour ICES Behaviour collection https://vocab.ices.dk/?codetypeguid=d0268a96-afc9-436e-a4db-4f61c2b9f6ba

You can also populate measurementValueID with references to papers or manuals that document the sampling protocol used to obtain the measurement. To do this you should use either:

9.1.3 Populate measurementTypeID

9.1.3.1 The NERC P01 Collection

One of the more important collections for OBIS is the P01 collection.

Important note! P01 codes are required for the measurementTypeID field when using NERC vocabulary.

The P01 is a large collection with >45,000 concepts. Each concept within this collection is composed of different elements that, together, construct a label you can use for a measurement type. Frequently, concepts from the P01 collection are referred to as a “P01 code”. P01 codes are used to populate the measurementTypeID field.

It is important to know that a semantic model, shown below, underlies each P01 code and the elements that compose them. There are 5 potential elements in this semantic model that, together, unambiguously describe a measurement type. See the P01 wheel for example of how these elements relate and combine to make one P01 code.

Elements of the semantic model for P01 codes
Elements of the semantic model for P01 codes
  • Property/attribute: the measurement or observation of either an object of interest or a matrix, or both
  • Object of interest: a chemical object, a biological object, a physical phenomenon, or a material object
  • In relation to: how the measurement is related to the environment
  • Environmental matrix: what environment the measurement is in (e.g. water body, seabed); needed for most environmental measurements, but may not be necessary for e.g. biological measurements
  • Method: any specific methods used that are important to interpret the measurement

Note: Not every element is required, but it is important to think about each piece of the model and how it may or may not apply to your measurement. More details about this are described below in the mesaurementTypeID section.

You can use codes from other collections (e.g. P06, QL22) for measurementValueID and measurementUnitID fields, but for measurementTypeID you must always use a code from the P01 collection.

9.1.3.1.1 Selecting P01 codes for measurementTypeID

When selection P01 codes, it is important to understand that each element within a P01 code is meant to describe an aspect of the measurement: what is the measurement, what is the object or entity being measured, in what environment was the measurement taken, by what kind of methods, etc.? By taking together all these elements, we are able to have a unique and specific description to differentiate one measurement from another. More documentation about the P01 code and the semantic model it is based on can be found here.

The P01 collection is found here and can be searched through the NERC vocabulary server.

You may notice when searching for measurement types related to an occurrence that specific taxonomic codes are available to you, e.g., abundance of Notommata. For OBIS, all P01 codes should be generalized - i.e. do not select species-specific codes. Instead only choose codes for “biological entities specified elsewhere” when the measurement is related to an occurrence record.

There are several ways of searching for a P01 code, but we highly recommend using the SeaDataNet P01 Facet Search. You may notice when searching for measurement types related to an occurrence that specific taxonomic options are available to you, e.g., abundance of Notommata. For OBIS, all P01 codes should be generalized - i.e. do not select species-specific codes. Instead, only choose codes for “biological entities specified elsewhere”! This is due to the Darwin Core Archive structure - taxonomic identification is already specified in the Occurrence table, but measurements are recorded in the ExtendedMeasurementOrFact table.

When you are comfortable and understand P01 codes, you can also use the BODC Vocabulary Builder or simply search for terms directly on the NERC Vocabulary Server.

Vocabulary for measurements related to sampling instruments and/or sampling methods can also be found in the P01 collection and are mostly classified as sampling parameters (a search keyword that can be used in the SeaDataNet Facet search). These vocabulary used to fall under the Q01 collection, however this collection has been deprecated and the terms have been remapped to P01 codes (see GitHub issue on this here). See below for examples of sampling-related measurements and their associated P01 code:

Use the following decision tree to help you select P01 codes for biological, chemical, physical, and/or sampling measurements. See the OBIS YouTube Vocabulary series for guidance on how to use this tree and examples for different types of measurementTypeIDs. Note that the measurementTypeID:sampling measurements branch is newly developed, and we are happy to receive feedback if the suggestions are not working for you.

_Decision tree to assist with finding and selecting appropriate controlled vocabulary to be used in the eMoF. For those unfamiliar with the tree see the OBIS YouTube Vocabulary series.
_Decision tree to assist with finding and selecting appropriate controlled vocabulary to be used in the eMoF. For those unfamiliar with the tree see the OBIS YouTube Vocabulary series.

9.1.4 Request new vocabulary terms

If you have already tried looking for a P01 code and were unable to identify a suitable code for your measurementType you must then request a code to be created. Before doing so, make sure you have not over filtered the search results. Then, to request a new term, your request must be submitted via:

We strongly recommend you use GitHub if you can, as it allows longer-term documentation, and can be relevant for other users who may be interested in the same type of code creation.

Finally, if you are unsure about whether a code fits your specific case, please feel free to ask questions to the Vocab channel on the OBIS Slack.

9.1.4.1 How to Submit a GitHub Vocabulary Request

  1. Navigate to https://github.com/nvs-vocabs/OBISVocabs/issues and click on the New Issue button.
Screenshot of how to request a new vocabulary on Github
Screenshot of how to request a new vocabulary on Github
  1. Click Get started
Screenshot of submitting an issue to Github
Screenshot of submitting an issue to Github
  1. Fill in the title with short details of your request or issue. Then fill in the description. It is recommended to list any existing terms that are similar to your request, or concepts that are sub-components of the request.
Screenshot for how to request a new measurementType on Github
Screenshot for how to request a new measurementType on Github
  1. Example: An issue was created to address difficulties in identifying P01 codes for sex rather than gender. Gender is a concept generally applied to humans, whereas “sex” is more applicable for animals. Thus the request was to either modify the current gender P01 code, or create a P01 code that specifies sex, not gender. At the time the request was issued, when users searched for a P01 term for “sex”, only species-specific terms were available.
Example of previously requested new term on Github
Example of previously requested new term on Github