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Persistent URL http://purl.org/net/epubs/work/50210
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Record Id 50210
Title Next steps to interoperability : functions, observations and other things
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Abstract The ISO TC211 series of standards offers a very natural way to organise and model meteorological information at a conceptual level. Coupled with OGC web service protocols, these emerging standards offer a powerful framework for serving data in an interoperable manner. The basis of the framework is the abstract 'Domain Reference Model' which says simply that a dataset is discoverable, accessible via services, and consists of discrete information objects called 'features'. The challenge is in deciding the nature of these 'features' for meteorological data. However, the ISO and OGC standards provide a capable and ready toolkit. <p>Meteorological practitioners are comfortable with the familiar notion of a mathematical 'field', or 'function' (f:A->B) mapping some (spatiotemporal) domain (A) to a range (B). The ISO standards use the name 'coverage' for such an object, and provide a rich conceptual model for adoption. <p>Another key element is the idea of an 'observation', with its associated instruments, stations, and observed properties. Once more, a standard conceptual model for 'Observations and Measurements' is available. <p>While 'functions' and 'observations' provide the most important elements for modelling meteorological features, there is in addition a 'general feature model' for all the other aspects that may be required. It provides the ability to describe 'things' in full generality - characterised by their attributes, their relationships to other things, and their behaviour. <p>Taken together, 'functions', 'observations' and other 'things' provide a compelling basis for adoption of the TC211 standards within meteorology. <p>A context for adoption is provided by the recent European INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC). INSPIRE provides a unique opportunity for establishing a community-based activity around information modelling. We review the INSPIRE methodology as well as progress within the exemplar geoscience community, before examining the possibilities for meteorology.
Organisation ESC , STFC
Keywords Natural environment
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Language English (EN)
Type Details URI(s) Local file(s) Year
Presentation Presented at ECMWF Workshop on the use of GIS/OGC standards in meteorology, Reading, England, 24-26 Nov 2008. ECMWF-Nov2008-Woolf.ppt 2008