Complex Property Model ontology

The AbstractObservableProperty class is the root of the ObservableProperty model. It is implemented by two specialisations: ObservableProperty and CompositeObservableProperty.

Usually, when performing multiple observations on one featureOfInterest, one provides a separate ObservableProperty element for each Phenomenon being observed. However, in certain cases where either a) there is a strong link between the Phenomena or b) the multiple phenomena are clearly observed as part of the same Observation, these Phenomena may be provided together in one Observation. In this case a CompositeObservableProperty can be defined that groups together multiple Phenomena (ObservableProperty) into one CompositeObservableProperty element.

An example of a strongly linked pair of Phenomena is wind speed and wind direction

In order to provide other constraints on ObservableProperties, the type Constraint has been created and can be associated with an ObservableProperty. Constraints may be specialised or the simple description attribute may be used to provide a free text description of the constraint.

The matrix is a special case of a feature-of-interest that provides the context (container feeaure or medium) for an observable property.

The substance, taxon or other physical/chemical phenomenon of the Feature Of Interest that is being observed. E.g. Waves, Rainfall, Calluna Vulgaris, Aluminium.

At its simplest an ObservableProperty simply carries a reference to a phenomenon definition in a codelist with optional units of measure. However an ObservableProperty definition may be augmented using Constraints and/or Statistical Measures to create a more full definition of the observed property.

A specialisation of ObjectOfInterest for use where the Object of Interest is a physical phenomen, such as "throughfall" or "waves"

The property of the environment which the ObservableProperty is describing.

        A description of some statistical measure e.g. "daily maximum". The measure is usually some function over some time (e.g. an hour, a day) or space (e.g. a length, area or volume). Other aggregation types can be supported by the 'otherAggregation' extension point.

A specialisation of ObjectOfInterest for use where the Object of Interest is a chemical substance

A specialisation of ObjectOfInterest for use where the Object of Interest is an organism with a binomial classification