Details

Published: 27 August 2018

• Meeting 7 - 2024 - Teleconference
• Meeting 6 - 2021 - Teleconference
• Meeting 5 - 2018 - Geneva
• Meeting 4 - 2017 - Montreal
• Meeting 3 - 2016 - Frascati
• Meeting 2 - 2015 - Waterloo, CA
• Meeting 1 - 2014 - Potsdam

Details

Published: 31 July 2017

Group Summary

The Vocabularies and Semantics Working Group brings together people who are interested in semantics and vocabularies relevant to the polar regions. Originally established as a joint effort between the Arctic Data Committee and the Arctic Data Sub Team of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee, the group is open to all individuals and organizations with an interest in this topic.  

Group activities include:

• Promote awareness of existing vocabularies and semantics initiatives to increase effectiveness and reduce or eliminate redundancy
• Coordinate vocabularies and semantics development activities across the polar information community
• Enable and organize regular communication within the community
• Help members of the community connect to useful and interoperable vocabularies
• Inform the polar community about broader activities (e.g. ESIP, RDA), and act as ambassadors from the polar community to other initiatives

Semantic Resource Types

Semantic resources fall along a spectrum of reasoning capability.  All types are useful, depending on your context.  The resource types we've defined so far are: 

• Controlled vocabulary (a list of terms controlled by some authority - example, this dropdown list); 
• Glossary (terms and their definitions, possibly with synonyms - example, NSIDC's Cryosphere Glossary https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/glossary); 
• Thesaurus (a structured controlled vocabulary where there is information about each term and its hierarchical, associative, or equivalence relationships to other terms in the thesaurus);  
• Taxonomy (hierarchies of terms organized as tree structures without significant relationships to concepts in other trees - example, oak and elm are both types of trees); and 
• Ontology (a set of concepts with attributes and relationships between the concepts which together define a domain of knowledge, expressed in machine-readable format)

Help map terminology resources

The survey has now been closed and work is in progress to move on with information gathered.

The Vocabularies and Semantics Working Group is running a survey to identify relevant terminology resources for the polar community. Please help  by responding to the survey at

https://tinyurl.com/PolarVocabs

and circulate the survey to potential respondents.

Status

The group is now active with regular virtual meetings using Teams. As a general rule, the group meets for virtual meetings every 4th Tuesday of the month at 14:00 UTC (during Daylight Savings time, one hour later). Send an email to polarsemantics (at) gmail.com if you want to be involved and aren't yet on the polarsemantics email list.

Meeting Minutes:

Communication Channels

A set of collaboration tools and communication channels have been established for the group.  

• A dedicated Trello team has been set up for management of the group activities.
  • This is not actively used.
• The Slack space for group is used for realtime, day to day communications.  
  • This is not a payed account meaning the history will disappear after a while.
• A Google Group has been established for internal asynchronous communication and archive of information etc.
• A Google Drive has been established for document management, meeting minutes and agendas, etc.
  • This is where the initial overview of relevant vocabularies are listed first.
• A GitHub repository will be established for specific vocabularies or ontologies established under the project.

Partners and Related Groups and Activities 

• Alaska Data Integration work group
• Arctic Research Mapping Application
• Arctic Observing Viewer
• ClearEarth
• DataONE (NSF Arctic Data Center)
• ELOKA
• ESIP Semantic Committee
• Geolink (NSF EarthCube)
• Iridium/CASRAI
• Norwegian Scientific Data Network (NorDataNet)
• NSF Arctic Data Center
• The OBO Foundry
• Permadata
• PolarInsights
• Research Data Alliance
• Semantic Sea Ice Interoperability Initiative
• Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS)
• US LTER Network Community Office

WMO activities (through METNO)

• Global Cryosphere Watch
• Year of Polar Prediction

Details

Published: 07 October 2015

Level 1: General International

• Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS)
  The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is an intergovernmental organization working to improve the availability, access to and use of Earth observations by building a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which provides decision-support tools to a wide variety of users. As with the Internet, GEOSS will be a global and flexible network of content providers allowing decision makers to access an extraordinary range of information at their desk. The GEOSS Portal is the main entry point to Earth Observation data from all over the world. The GEOSS information services for cold regions, which may service as the GEOSS Community Portal functions, coordinates joint, global efforts to provide Earth observations and information services to decision-makers over a vast Cold Regions area, including the North Pole, South Pole, Himalaya-Third Pole and Mountain cold regions.
• Global Change Master Directory (GCMD)

Level 2: General Polar

• The Arctic Portal
  The Arctic Portal is a comprehensive gateway to Arctic information and data on the internet, increasing information sharing and co-operation among Arctic stakeholders and granting exposure to Arctic related information and data.
• The WMO Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW)
  GCW is an international mechanism for supporting all key cryospheric in-situ and remote sensing observations. To meet the needs of WMO Members and partners in delivering services to users, the media, public, decision and policy makers, GCW provides authoritative, clear, and useable data, information, and analyses on the past, current and future state of the cryosphere.
• Polar Data Catalogue
  The Polar Data Catalogue is a database of metadata and data that describes, indexes, and provides access to diverse data sets generated by Arctic and Antarctic researchers. Geographic focus is on Canada, but the PDC holds international collections, too, such as hundreds of metadata records of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program. The records follow ISO 19115 and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard formats to provide exchange with other data centres. Interoperability via OGC WMS, OGC WFS, OAI-PMH, and CSW (GeoNetwork) are in place for sharing metadata and data. The metadata records cover a wide range of disciplines from natural sciences and policy, to health and social sciences. Datasets are available for free public download, with new files being added on a regular basis as we work with researchers to prepare and submit their datasets. The PDC Geospatial Search tool is also available to the public and researchers alike and allows searching data using a mapping interface and other parameters.

Level 3: National Polar

• Polar Knowledege Canada
  Polar Knowledge Canada (POLAR) is on the cutting edge of Arctic issues and strengthens Canada's position internationally as a leader in polar science and technology. POLAR also promotes the development and distribution of knowledge of other circumpolar regions, including Antarctica. It will provide a world-class hub for science and technology research in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut called the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. As part of Canada's Northern Strategy, POLAR improves economic opportunities, environmental stewardship and quality of life for Northerners and other Canadians.

Arctic Region

International

• Arctic Data Centre
  Arctic Data Centre is a WMO Information System Data Collection and Production Centre building on the IPY legacy.
• Arctic Data Explorer
  The Arctic Data Explorer (ADE) is a cross-domain data discovery tool for searching distributed repositories. Current search includes holdings of the ACADIS Gateway, NCAR's Earth Observing Lab, National Snow and Ice Data Center, Norwegian Meteorological Inst., and the US National Oceanographic Data Center. The ADE features an ISO-based metadata store, an available OpenSearch (ESIP-compliant) endpoint for automated searching, and metadata brokering technologies that allow for ingest of feeds in many formats.
• Arctic Observing Viewer (AOV)
  AOV is a web mapping application for Arctic Observing data collection sites. This prototype is now available for visualization, synthesis, strategic assessment, and decision support for U.S. SEARCH/AON and other initiatives: The “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” of data collection activities (sites with repeat measurements such as towers, boreholes, weather stations, etc). Optimize sampling design, assess progress, fill gaps, etc.
• Arctic Research Mapping Application (ARMAP)
  ARMAP is a suite of online, interactive maps and web services that support Arctic science. The application displays details and field locations for over 2300 research projects funded by the US NSF and seventeen other agencies. A variety of web data services are also available for use by other organizations. Learn more about research projects, explore available data, plan and coordinate, etc.
• International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA)
  The mission of IASOA is to advance coordinated research objectives from independent pan-Arctic atmospheric observatories through (1) strategically developing comprehensive observational capacity, (2) facilitating data access and usability through a single gateway, and (3) mobilizing contributions to synergistic science and socially-relevant services derived from IASOA assets and expertise.
• The Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON)
  search facility for Arctic observational data harvests metadata from a series of data management institutions.

National

• AbiskoGIS
  A research station based initiative from the Abisko Scientific Research Station, in sub-Artic Sweden, that contains a a mix of project data and metadata of monitoring activities.
• Arctic Data archive System (ADS)
  The purpose of the Arctic Data archive System (ADS) is to archive and distribute multiple observational (atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial, and ecology) and satellite and model simulation datasets, and promote utilization of these datasets. ADS is the central repository of archived data on Arctic research in Japan
• Natural Environment Research Council Arctic Office (UK)
  The aim of the Office and its website is to coordinate UK scientific research in the Arctic. The Office does provide information in its own right through a web map service(map.arctic.ac.uk.
• The Norwegian Polar Data Centre and Norwegian Polar Institute Maps and Services are infrastructure nodes in development at the Norwegian Polar Institute, primarily focused on managing and distributing data from the institute itself. The data centre holds scientific, environmental and topographic data from the Norwegian Arctic, and distributes the data through open web services. The data centre also holds the repsonsibility as a National Antarctic Data Center (NADC) for Norway, and Antarctic metadata are harvested by the Antarctic Master Directory. The metadata services are being connected to other networks as well, including the Norwegian IPY data catalogue (DOKIPY).
• Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN)
  Decline in the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice is an active area of scientific effort and one with significant implications for ecosystems and communities in the Arctic and globally. Forecasting for seasonal timescales (i.e., the summer and into fall) is of particular interest to many stakeholders since many activities that take place in the arctic are planned over the summer months, and many species are sensitive to the behavior of summer sea ice. However, seasonal forecasting is particularly challenging due to the variable nature of weather and ocean behavior over that timescale as well as current limits to data and modeling capabilities.
• SIPN builds and expands on the Sea Ice Outlook project. The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN)—launched in the fall of 2013—will develop a collaborative network of scientists and stakeholders to advance research on sea ice prediction and communicate sea ice knowledge and tools.
• Svalbard Integrated Arctic Observing System (SIOS)
  Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project. There are 28 partners from Europe and Asia involved. The essential objective is to establish better coordinated services for the International Research community with respect to access, data and knowledge management, logistics and training.
• ECDS - Environment Climate Data Sweden A data center that is part of the Swedish national infrastructure where research (meta)data can be stored and explored and possibly. This services has the potential to be a hub for exploring Swedish Arctic research data in a wider Arctic network.

Disciplinary

Atmospheric

• The International Arctic System for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA)
  mission is to advance coordinated research objectives from independent pan-Arctic atmospheric observatories through (1) strategically developing comprehensive observational capacity, (2) facilitating data access and usability through a single gateway, and (3) mobilizing contributions to synergistic science and socially-relevant services derived from IASOA assets and expertise. The IASOA data access portal provides (through ISO-19115-2 metadata) discovery & access-level information for ~700 atmospheric datasets from the ten Arctic Observatories of IASOA. Also refer to Arctic Hub Group: IASOA.
• The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) organises atmospheric contaminants data for AMAP. The data are accessible through their EBAS database.
• The WMO Information system (WIS) is the single coordinated global infrastructure responsible for the telecommunications and data management functions. It is the pillar of the WMO strategy for managing and moving weather, climate and water information in the 21st century.
• GAWSIS is related to, but more specific, than the WMO listing above. It is an over-arching, coherent metadata system for the six world data centers that support the WMO's Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) program: WDCGG (Gases), WOUDC (Ozone/UV); WDCPC (Precip. Chem.); WWRDC (Radiation); WDCA (Aerosols/AOD); WDC-RSAT (Remote Sens.)

Biodiversity

• Arctic Biodiversity Data Service by CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) and Seabird Data portal ABDS will allow for the combination of geo-referenced data at various spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales and the main data resource is currently on migratory seabirds.

Community Oriented

• Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA)
  ELOKA provides data management and user support to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge of the Arctic.

Cryospheric

• National Snow and Ice Data center (NSIDC)
  The Roger G. Barry Archives and Resource Center (ARC) at NSIDC is an information resource for people studying Earth's frozen regions, the history of science, or past climate related to the Earth’s frozen regions. ARC is located at NSIDC's offices at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is open to the public. ARC offers a unique set of collections focused on both science and history in the Earth’s frozen regions, including the Arctic, the Antarctic, glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, frozen ground, and more. The information and resources at ARC support NSIDC’s mission “to improve our understanding of the Earth’s frozen regions” and the Earth as a system.
• The WMO Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW)
  is an international mechanism for supporting all key cryospheric in-situ and remote sensing observations. To meet the needs of WMO Members and partners in delivering services to users, the media, public, decision and policy makers, GCW provides authoritative, clear, and useable data, information, and analyses on the past, current and future state of the cryosphere.
• World Glacier Monitoring Service Meta Data Browser The WGMS collects standardized observations on changes in mass, volume, area and length of glaciers with time (glacier fluctuations), as well as statistical information on the distribution of perennial surface ice in space (glacier inventories). Such glacier fluctuation and inventory data are high priority key variables in climate system monitoring;
  Interdiciplinary and national

Oceanographic

• The ArcticROOS is a GOOS Regional Alliance for the Arctic
  The secretariat is located at the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway. It has been established by a group of 14 member institutions from nine European countries working actively with ocean observation and modelling systems for the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. The aim of the ArcticROOS is to promote, develop and maintain operational monitoring and forecasting of ocean circulation, water masses, ocean surface conditions, sea ice and biological/chemical ocean constituents in the Arctic Ocean. The ArcticROOS website http://arctic-roos.org/ contains some metadata and results of the long-term observations from partners. The main focus is on cryospheric and oceanographic data.
• Ice Tethered Profiler (ITP)
  Building on the ongoing success of ice drifters that support multiple discrete subsurface sensors on tethers and the WHOI-developed Moored Profiler instrument capable of moving along a tether to sample at better than 1-m vertical resolution, we designed and field tested an automated, easily-deployed Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) for Arctic study. The system consists of a small surface capsule housing a controller interfaced to an Iridium data telemetry unit and inductive modem, a plastic-jacketed wire rope tether extending down 500 to 800 m into the ocean terminated by a ballast weight, and a new variation of the WHOI Moored Profiler (in shape and size much like an Argo float) that mounts on the tether and cycles vertically along it.
• The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is an intergovernmental organization whose main objective is to increase the scientific knowledge of the marine environment and its living resources and to use this knowledge to provide unbiased, non-political advice to competent authorities. The ICES Marine Data Center organises marine data on, among other things, contaminants and biological effects of these, biological community, oceanography and fisheries. ICES is the data center for these data for AMAP.
• International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO)
  The goal of IBCAO is to develop a digital data base that contains all available bathymetric data north of 64° North, for use by mapmakers, researchers, institutions, and others whose work requires a detailed and accurate knowledge of the depth and the shape of the Arctic seabed.
• Norwegian Satellite Earth Observation Database for Marine and Polar Research (NORMAP)
  The overall goal of NORMAP is to create and maintain a data repository, including metadata of the high latitude and Arctic regions based on Earth Observation data from polar orbiting satellites to facilitate and stimulate high quality and original multidisciplinary Earth System research, application and education in marine, polar and climate sciences
• Oden Mapping Data
  Bathymetric data from multi-beam sounding on icebreaker Oden cruises. The data has been extensively downloaded and used and can be regarded as an example of a local initiative by individual research group leading to a success story in sharing of research data. The data is one of the sources to the IBCAO.

Social Science

• Arctic Observation Network Social Indicator Project
  The Arctic Observation Network Social Indicator Project (AON-SIP) was supported byf the National Science Foundation from 2007 to 2011. This website is maintained to offer access to data compiled by the AON-SIP by researchers and policy makers.

Terrestrial

• Frozen Ground Data Center
  The International Permafrost Association (IPA) has developed a strategy for data and information management to meet the requirements of cold regions science, engineering, and modeling communities. A central component of this strategy is the Global Geocryological Data (GGD) system, an internationally distributed system linking investigators and data centers around the world. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in collaboration with the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) serves as a central node of the GGD.

Details

Published: 07 October 2015

The overarching purpose of the ADC is to promote and facilitate international collaboration towards the goal of free, ethically open, sustained and timely access to Arctic data through useful, usable, and interoperable systems. This includes facilitate the adoption, implementation and development (where necessary) of standards that will enable free, open and timely access to data. This will facilitate interoperability of data and systems as needed to support the needs of researchers, Arctic residents, decision makers and others. More content will be added to this section over the coming months.

Currently the Arctic Data Committee is supporting the "Arctic Data Standards Initative" 

About this initative: Effective data sharing is a priority for Northern communities, with Indigenous organizations and residents — and northern researchers — facing challenges with existing knowledge systems, research methods and data storage practices. At the same time, Indigenous governments are starting to enforce standards for Indigenous data sovereignty.

Various standards, including social norms and formal standards, are used to facilitate sharing, interoperability and use of data. However, developing and implementing effective standards across disciplines can be difficult, requiring the consideration of large and diverse groups of rights holders and stakeholders while navigating complex social-political environments.

Polar Knowledge Canada, the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI) and the Arctic Research Foundation, with the guidance and participation of Northern Indigenous Communities and Organizations, are supporting the improvement of interoperability and data standards through the Arctic Data Standards Initiative.

Interoperability

The objective of this activity it to desing an interoperability experiment for presentation at the Arctic. We will bring together a number of data services under a single interface to address Societal/Science Priority Areas identified under the NSF-led Arctic Observing Assessment and other similar efforts (i.e. GEO/GEOSS etc.). The key focus will be selected areas of societal significance including health and well-being, food security, freshwater security, built infrastructure, coastal and riverine vulnerability, and teleconnections. These are complex areas of interaction between humans and their environment.

Task Lead: Jointly led with early participation interest indicated by Canada, Iceland, Norway, United Kingdom, United States