Re: [Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?
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@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:Tdwg-obs-bounces@lists.tdwg.org]On Behalf Of Jerry Cooper Sent: 19 October 2005 17:45 PM To: Tdwg-obs@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@LandcareResearch.CO.NZ
Hannu Saarenmaa hsaarenmaa@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@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@gbif.org http://www.gbif.org/
Tdwg-obs mailing list Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
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Tdwg-obs mailing list Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
Denis,
Note that you can probably get away with a flat Darwin Core-like model if you are prepared to model objects of different types. A flat schema (or set of schemas) can describe a specimen and include an attribute which stores an identifier (GUID) for an object of a different class which represents the monitoring regime. We need to make sure that we build systems and tools that make it simple to retrieve objects of different classes easily.
Donald
--------------------------------------------------------------- Donald Hobern (dhobern@gbif.org) Programme Officer for Data Access and Database Interoperability Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: +45-35321483 Mobile: +45-28751483 Fax: +45-35321480 ---------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message----- From: Tdwg-obs-bounces@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:Tdwg-obs-bounces@lists.tdwg.org] On Behalf Of Denis Lepage Sent: 21 October 2005 23:28 To: Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org Subject: Re: [Tdwg-obs] What is an observation?
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@lists.tdwg.org [mailto:Tdwg-obs-bounces@lists.tdwg.org]On Behalf Of Jerry Cooper Sent: 19 October 2005 17:45 PM To: Tdwg-obs@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@LandcareResearch.CO.NZ
Hannu Saarenmaa hsaarenmaa@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@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@gbif.org http://www.gbif.org/
Tdwg-obs mailing list Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++ WARNING: This email and any attachments may be confidential and/or privileged. They are intended for the addressee only and are not to be read, used, copied or disseminated by anyone receiving them in error. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return email and delete this message and any attachments.
The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Landcare Research.
Landcare Research http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++
Tdwg-obs mailing list Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
_______________________________________________ Tdwg-obs mailing list Tdwg-obs@lists.tdwg.org http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
participants (2)
-
Denis Lepage -
Donald Hobern