[Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?

Denis Lepage dlepage at bsc-eoc.org
Fri Oct 21 23:27:51 CEST 2005


Donald et al.,

I also like Hannu's description overall, and believe (hope) that we are talking primarily about your second type of event (although there is a bit of a continuum).

This group was mostly created for describing observations used for the purpose of monitoring. We'll probably need to refine what constitute monitoring as well, but to me, it implies following the status of an organism's population in space and/or time by using repeated observations. I'm sure someone can come up with a better definition, but the single isolated observation record in itself as little value outside of the context of monitoring.

The issue that you raise regarding the main unit element of the schema is a critical one, and one that I've been trying to get across from early on. The issue of negative data is the single most important distinction between monitoring and collection data. Knowing that an organism was not detected is equally as important as knowing that it was, and this is sometimes a difficult concept to get across to people outside of the monitoring world.

Darwin Core is indeed focussed on individual records, and I've been somewhat reluctant to using a flat schema like this to describe monitoring data, which really has at least 2 layers (sampling event and observation of organisms within each sampling event). The approach that the bird community is currently pushing in North America is to use a flat schema that is an extension of DarwinCore, but have the client generate 2 queries to normalize the flat records into 2 pieces. A first query that summarize the monitoring events (the HOW, WHEN, WHERE, WHO fields described by Alvaro), and a second query that gathers the related individual observations made during those events (the WHAT). (The WHY is yet a 3rd layer that is found in the metadata).

The main caveat with that approach is for the case where you have a monitoring event that did not have ANY observation at all (hence you do not have a record to generate a monitoring event in your first query). This is typically rare with birds surveys, but it may be more common in protocols that are looking at a limited suite of species. The way we've been handling this is by having a field that we called NoObservation. Any event that has zero observation is required to have at least one record with this field set to "Yes", and no other taxonomic information. 

The alternative approaches that we had considered were to 1) use a hierarchical schema or 2) to use multiple schemas (one for the events, one for the observations) with a link connecting the two. The main reason to go with the DarwinCore approach is it's simplicity for providers, and the expertise that people have developed around that schema, DiGIR and everything around it. 

I think DarwinCore is well adapted already to describe the WHEN, WHERE, WHO and WHAT, but not so much the HOW (protocol) and WHY (metadata). The current WHEN and WHERE fields are also lacking information that allow to determine effort (duration, area, etc.). These additional pieces are all critical in the context of monitoring, and this is where we've focussed or effort to extend DarwinCore. We've posted the list of extension fields to DarwinCore here, although they may still continue to evolve a bit: http://www.avianknowledge.net/dataFederation/BMDE%20Schema%20Tabls 

So, all this to say that we need to include the concept of monitoring in our definition. 

Cheers and good weekend to all
Denis

Denis Lepage,  Senior Scientist/Chercheur sénior 
National Data Center/Centre national des données
Bird Studies Canada/Études d'Oiseaux Canada
PO Box/B.P. 160, Port Rowan, ON  N0E 1M0
519-586-3531 ext. 225, fax/téléc. 519-586-3532


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tdwg-obs-bounces at lists.tdwg.org
> [mailto:Tdwg-obs-bounces at lists.tdwg.org]On Behalf Of Jerry Cooper
> Sent: 19 October 2005 17:45 PM
> To: Tdwg-obs at lists.tdwg.org
> Subject: Re: [Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?
> 
> 
> I support Hannu's view. 
>  
> I still see a bit of confusion created by the overlap between 
> 'a natural history oriented observations' and 
> 'survey/monitoring observations'. 
> The former is generally a serendipitous event and is well 
> described within ABCD. The latter generally places a much 
> greater emphasis on recording the relationships between 
> organisms and with the surrounding environment and the 
> methodology used to capture these data. 
> Does the community see a difference between these two - or a 
> continuum between them? 
> Is this group primarily concerned with the former, or the 
> latter, or both?
> If it is the former then I think I'm in the wrong group, and 
> maybe we need a seprate group to consider survey/monitoring events.
> If it is the latter, or a continuum, then I restate what I 
> said in St Petersburgh. For survey/monitoring data it is the 
> methodology metdata that takes precedence and that should act 
> as a container for 1 to many observations of organisms and 
> environmental variables. That is the inverse of say, Darwin 
> Core, where an observation on a single organism takes 
> precedence. Hence the difficulty in recording 'absence' data 
> within a Darwin Core-like schema.
>  
> Jerry
>  
>  
> Jerry Cooper PhD
> Research Leader: Biodiversity Informatics
> Landcare Research
> PO Box 40, Lincoln 8152
> New Zealand
> +64 3 325 6701 ext 3734
> CooperJ at LandcareResearch.CO.NZ
> 
> >>> Hannu Saarenmaa <hsaarenmaa at gbif.org> 20/10/2005 3:40 a.m. >>>
> 
> How about this:   An observation captures data about the 
> occurrence of 
> an organism in space and time and in relation to habitat and other 
> organisms.  Documenting the precision, accuracy, certainty, 
> and methods 
> of the measurements that have been made during an observation is 
> essential for determining the fitness for use of the data 
> that has been 
> captured. An observation is an event that can be linked to 
> other events.
> 
> Indeed, I would like to emphasise the need of documenting 
> what is called 
> "quality".
> 
> Hannu
> 
> Steve Kelling wrote:
> 
> >Hello,
> >
> >I had several people respond to my query about  what kinds 
> of things we 
> >should discuss in this list. Overwhelmingly, the interest 
> seemed focused on 
> >defining some of the key terms that we are bantering about. 
> To that end I'd 
> >like to initiate the first discussion on this list by 
> asking, what is an 
> >observation?
> >  What follows is some information that I gleaned from the Internet, 
> >discussions that I have had with others, and with the ENBI 
> reports. I'd 
> >appreciate your comments, in our goal to create a good 
> definintion of 
> >observation for our purposes.--Steve
> >
> >Princeton University's Wordnet 
> >(<http://wordnet.princeton.edu/>http://wordnet.princeton.edu/
> ) defines an 
> >observation as the act of making and then recording a measurement. 
> >Basically, something is watched, and notes are taken about 
> it. In the study 
> >of biology and astronomy careful observations made by 
> trained observations 
> >and amateurs alike, is the foundation of information 
> gathered for these 
> >disciplines.
> >
> >
> >With regard to biodiversity informatics, particularly as to how 
> >observations relate to the existing infrastructure, the 
> above definition is 
> >too general, because it encompasses all facets of biology. 
> Consequently, we 
> >need to begin to qualify the definition of observation. 
> First, we restrict 
> >our definition to only those observations made of organisms in the 
> >environment. Second, the location at which the observation 
> was made is an 
> >integral component of the observation. Third, an observation 
> is exclusive 
> >of museum voucher specimens. Finally, information collected 
> during an 
> >observation includes additional attributes such as: 
> protocol, measure of 
> >abundance, extent of occurrence, demographic, ecological 
> associates, and 
> >environmental conditions.
> >
> >  To discuss and ultimately added to the definition:
> >
> >Advantages of observational data.
> >Disadvantages of observational data
> >Observational data providers (amateurs/professionals)
> >Detectability and data quality
> >Location specificity
> >Integration of observational data
> >Definition of a collecting event and its significance
> >others?
> >
> >
> >Steve Kelling
> >Cornell Lab of Ornithology
> >607-254-2478 (work)
> >607-342-1029 (cell)
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Tdwg-obs mailing list
> >Tdwg-obs at lists.tdwg.org
> >http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> -- 
> Hannu Saarenmaa
> Deputy Director for Informatics
> Global Biodiversity Information Facility - GBIF Secretariat
> Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen
> Tel +45-35321479     Fax +45-35321480     GSM +45-28751479
> hsaarenmaa at gbif.org  http://www.gbif.org/
> 
> 
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