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Project Description

Ontology Research for The National Map Dalia Varanka Research Geographer Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science Spatial Ontology Community of Practice Workshop October 17, 2008. Project Description.

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Project Description

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  1. Ontology Research for The National MapDalia VarankaResearch GeographerCenter of Excellence for Geospatial Information ScienceSpatial Ontology Community of Practice WorkshopOctober 17, 2008

  2. ProjectDescription • Ontology for The National Map is a framework to more explicitly articulate detailed and shared information about U.S. topographic features • A robust exchange of feature semantics enables greater information access for a diverse public • Richer data models based on ontology will increase potential data applications • National Research Council recommends to establish a research priority to explore use of geographic feature ontologies for geographic features to enable information discovery • Integrate data from a variety of formats and platforms • Enable natural language queries on features

  3. Parts of this Presentation • Background • Topographic mapping and narrative • Narrative as an approach to restore ontology semantics • Semantic facets of queries

  4. Topographic mapping • Base map – an empty container • Surface landscape features at local scale • Navigational device • Natural resource and urban development • A record of the changing American landscape • National unity and identity These meanings serve as the semantic contexts for topographic feature ontology

  5. Topographic maps and narratives • Topography as a type of temporal, narrative experience of the land (Lukermann 1961; Curry 2002) • American topographic landscape as the stage of our domestic experience • Routine activities, narratives, and symbols associated with places • Topographic map as the information storage device for that experience • Interact with the map via narratives and symbols

  6. Application of the ontology to The National Map • Scope: Science and Society • Science is structured by its practitioners and broader social contexts • The USGS is mission-driven to link science to society • Common-term concepts • For example: “The valley floor of the Grand Canyon,” “The spread of invasive species,” “Sea- level rise”

  7. Unify existing stages of an ontology Feature lists Themes/domains Classification Gazetteer Crosswalks What we need DB interfaces Relations / axioms

  8. 20th-Century Topographic Mapping A balance of mathematical, regional, and local mapping • Combined photogrammetric (air photo) and planetable (field) methods of surveying • Were focused on the 15 or 7.5 minute quadrangle, not government units • Topographic Instructions were general for regional implementation with state partner needs • Memos for verbal mediation and modifying ideas

  9. National Databases • Transition to a single national database strengthened centralized standardization of feature lists • Field offices vied for national center status • Feature lists served various functions, such as mapping, digital computation, and data interoperability, not just regional character • Specifics communicated via metadata, not two-way discourse • Based on governmental unit

  10. Objects: Feature and Code Lists

  11. Feature List Standards Comparisons • Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) • Digital Line Graph-Enhanced (DLG-E) • Digital Line Graph-Feature (DLG-F) • Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Framework • Best Practices Vector Data Model (The National Map)

  12. Domains – Land Cover

  13. Domains -Surveys

  14. Domains – Earth Processes

  15. Domains - Security • Historical relation with defense mapping • New emphasis on event-based, hazard management

  16. Assumptions so far • The working hypothesis is that we share a common-term vocabulary within the topographic map, but statements and queries are personalized and vary; • The tendency to move feature types to data model implementation may be narrowing our discourse about topography; and • Syntactic variance of query statements reflects the narrative of topographical experience; feature lists are better than code lists.

  17. Approach Base the analysis of feature content and syntactic structures on various narrative forms • Feature types, definitions, and domain expertise • Production: surveys, instructions, memos, and compilation • Gazetteer, particularly the Geographic Names Information System • Volunteer geographic information • Map reading events • Content analysis of text concordances

  18. Glossary • Definitions • A stream is a body of water, with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. • Concept conditions • …is a body of water • …has a current, a source, a mouth • [is] confined within a bed and stream banks

  19. Categorization • Basic level • Appear between super- and sub-classes • Have an associated action that comes to mind • Have the most attributes • Have the most whole-part structures • For example, road (driving) and river (flows)

  20. Other categories • Family resemblance • Associated with super-classes • For example, vegetation • Degrees of membership • No precise boundaries • For example, wetlands • Generator • Feature generates new features • Glaciers generate cirques, till, moraine, kames

  21. Syntax, with addition of names • Geographic Name Report Description Bluff Creek is a stream about 10 miles long heading in [sec./twp./range] flowing generally SE to the Leaf River in [sec./twp./range] about 5 miles southeast of Bluffington. [name] [subject] [modifier_length] [start_location] [event] [direction] [end_junction] [end_location] [proximity]

  22. Queries • What is Bluff Creek? What is [name] [Name] [relation] [object] Bluff Creek is a stream. • Where is Bluff Creek? Where is [name] [start-location][event-direction] [end-location] [proximity] Headed in [sec./twp./range] Bluff Creek flows generally SE to the Leaf River in [sec./twp./range] about 5 miles southeast of Bluffington.

  23. Ontology to Database Interface

  24. Semantic similarity • Types and causes • Regionalization (Hollows, Valleys, Bottoms) • Borrowings (Playa, Mesa, Prairie) • Geographic scale (River, Stream, Creek) • Infrastructure change (Condo, Gated Community) • Implications for query analysis • Synonyms • Variants • Spatial cognition

  25. Semantic context to enhance query functionality • Features with indeterminate boundaries carry semantic ambiguity in definition, name, and recognition. • By relating landform features with indeterminate boundaries to elevation, a geographical or environmental context, the identification, extent, and naming of these features is defined despite linguistic or spatial perspective ambiguity.

  26. Elevation (context) and Landform (feature) • Landform term • Glossary term definition • Coded criteria applied to elevation context • Landform feature extraction

  27. Features and spatial relations • Absolute location: gazetteer coordinates • Topological location: Query the topology rather than the feature as the primary subject ‘What is “near” the “lake?”

  28. Summary: work in progress • Work in progress includes the conceptual design and ontology software development of categorization, relation, attributes. • Current research includes integrating the ontology software to USGS databases.

  29. Contact Dalia Varanka Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science Tel: 573-308-3897 Email: dvaranka@usgs.gov

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