oboe-core
type: Ontology
version info: '$Id: Observation.owl,v 1.29 2008/01/30 04:36:12 bowers Exp $'
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
version info: Version 1.0 pre-release
comment: Copyright (c) 2006-2011 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.
comment: This ontology provides the core OBOE modeling constructs.

similarConceptAs
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually similar (e.g., overlapping), but not identical to the concept identified by the value of the annotation property. If the value of the annotation property denotes an OWL class, then the similarConceptAsClass annotation property should be used instead.

sameConceptAs
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually the same class as (i.e., conceptually equivalent to) the concept identified in the annotation value. If the value of the annotation property denotes an OWL class, then the sameConceptAsClass annotation property should be used instead.

sameConceptAsClass
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually the same class as (i.e., conceptually equivalent to) the referenced class (as given by the value of the annotation property). Note that being conceptually the same can differ from strict class equivalance in that the two classes may have different structural definitions within their specific ontologies, e.g., their superclasses and subclasses in the respective ontologies may differ.

similarConceptAsClass
type: AnnotationProperty
comment: A class annotation property that states that the annotated class is conceptually similar (e.g., overlapping), but not identical to the referenced class (the value of the annotation property).

contextFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
comment: The contextFor property states that one observation serves as the context for another observation. In the case of contextFor, the domain is the context, and the range is the observation being contextualized. Context defines a semantic relationship between two entities that is a fundamental aspect of the observations, but not necessarily of the entities themselves. For example, most measurements are accomplished in a spatio-temporal framework that might be valuable context. The assertions made by contextual observations are assumed of the contextualized observations. Context is a transitive relationship.
range: Observation
domain: Observation
inverse of: hasContext
property chain axiom: contextObservationFor
property chain axiom: observationContextFor

contextObservationFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The contextObservationFor property relates an contextualizing observation to the corresponding context measurement.
range: Context
domain: Observation

hasBaseQualifier
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasBaseQualifier together with the hasNextQualfiier property allows qualifier characteristics to be combined and ordered. For example, for an MinimumDailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to Minimum and the hasNextQualifier refers to a DailyAverage qualifier, and for a DailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to a Daily qualifier and the hasNextQualifier refers to an Average qualifier.
range: Base Characteristic Qualifier
domain: Composite Characteristic Qualifier

hasContext
type: ObjectProperty
type: TransitiveProperty
comment: The hasContext property states that one observation serves as the context for another observation. In the case of hasContext, the domain is the observation being contextualized, and the range is the context. Context defines a semantic relationship between two entities that is a fundamental aspect of the observations, but not necessarily of the entities themselves. For example, most measurements are accomplished in a spatio-temporal framework that might be valuable context. The assertions made by contextual observations are assumed of the contextualized observations. Context is a transitive relationship.
domain: Observation
range: Observation
property chain axiom: hasObservationContext
property chain axiom: hasContextObservation

hasContextObservation
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasContextObservation gives the contextualizing observation for the context.
domain: Context
range: Observation

hasMeasurement
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The hasMeasurement property gives the measurements of the observed entity.
range: Measurement
domain: Observation

hasMember
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The hasMember property gives the observations of an observation collection.
range: Observation
domain: Observation Collection

hasNextQualifier
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasNexQualifier together with the hasBaseQualfiier property allows qualifier characteristics to be combined and ordered. For example, for an MinimumDailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to Minimum and the hasNextQualifier refers to a DailyAverage qualifier, and for a DailyAverage qualifier, the hasBaseQualifier refers to a Daily qualifier and the hasNextQualifier refers to an Average qualifier.
range: Characteristic Qualifier
domain: Composite Characteristic Qualifier

hasObservationContext
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The hasObservationContext is a special type of hasMeasurement property that links an observation to a context measurement.
range: Context
domain: Observation
sub property of: hasMeasurement

hasQualifier
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasQualifier property assigns an optional characteristic qualifier to a physical characteristic. Examples of qualifiers are Average, Minimum, Maximum, Daily, etc.
range: Characteristic Qualifier
domain: Physical Characteristic

hasSourceUnit
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasSourceUnit property gives the source unit being converted from within a unit conversion.
range: Unit
domain: Unit Conversion

hasTargetUnit
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasTargetUnit property gives the target unit being converted to within a unit conversion.
range: Unit
domain: Unit Conversion

hasUnit
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The hasUnit property gives the underlying base or derived unit for a derived or composite unit, respectively.
range: Class
  union of: Base Unit
  union of: Derived Unit
domain: Class
  union of: Composite Unit
  union of: Derived Unit

hasValue
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasValue property gives the value of the measurement.
range: Entity
domain: Measurement

measuredBy
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The measuredBy property gives the measurement a characteristic is used in.
domain: Characteristic
range: Measurement
inverse of: ofCharacteristic

measurementFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The measurementFor property relates a measurement to its corresponding observation.
domain: Measurement
range: Observation
inverse of: hasMeasurement

memberOf
type: ObjectProperty
comment: The memberOf property gives the observation collections the observation is a member of.
domain: Observation
range: Observation Collection
inverse of: hasMember

observationContextFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The observationContextFor property gives the contextualized observation for a context measurement.
domain: Context
range: Observation
inverse of: hasObservationContext
sub property of: measurementFor

observedBy
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The observedBy property gives the observation of an observed entity.
domain: Entity
range: Observation
inverse of: ofEntity

ofCharacteristic
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The ofCharacteristic property gives the entity characteristic measured by a measurement.
range: Characteristic
domain: Measurement

ofEntity
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The ofEntity property gives the observed entity of an observation.
range: Entity
domain: Observation

protocolFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The protocolFor property gives the measurement that uses a protocol.
range: Measurement
domain: Protocol
inverse of: usesProtocol

standardFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The standardFor property gives the measurements that use this standard.
range: Measurement
domain: Standard
inverse of: usesStandard

usesProtocol
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The usesProtocol property gives the protocol used in a measurement.
domain: Measurement
range: Protocol

usesStandard
type: ObjectProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The usesStandard property gives the standard (e.g., unit) used in a measurement.
domain: Measurement
range: Standard

valueFor
type: ObjectProperty
type: InverseFunctionalProperty
comment: The valueFor property gives the measurement a value is used in.
domain: Entity
range: Measurement
inverse of: hasValue

hasCode
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasCode property gives the underlying value (or coded representation) of a primitive value.
domain: Primitive Value
range: anyType

hasMultiplier
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasMultiplier property gives the multiplier value in a unit conversion.
domain: Unit Conversion
range: decimal

hasOffset
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasOffset property gives the offset value in a unit conversion.
domain: Unit Conversion
range: decimal

hasPower
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The hasPower property gives the power a base unit is raised to within a derived unit.
domain: Derived Unit
range: int

hasPrecision
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: This property gives the precision of a measurement value.
domain: Measurement
range: decimal

usesMethod
type: DatatypeProperty
type: FunctionalProperty
comment: The usesMethod property gives the actual method used to carry out the measurement.
domain: Measurement
range: anyType

Base Characteristic Qualifier
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic Qualifier
comment: A Base Qualifier denotes a simple, atomic qualifier such as average, minimum, maximum, etc.

Base Unit
type: Class
subclass of: Unit
comment: A BaseUnit simply represents a unit that is not naturally decomposed into other units.

Boolean
type: Class
subclass of: Primitive Value
disjoint with: Decimal
disjoint with: String
comment: Represents a Boolean value, either 'true' or 'false'.

Characteristic
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  union of: Name
  union of: Physical Characteristic
  union of: Relationship
  union of: Type
disjoint with: Characteristic Qualifier
disjoint with: Entity
disjoint with: Measurement
disjoint with: Observation
disjoint with: Observation Collection
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
comment: A characteristic represents a property of an entity that can be measured (e.g., height, length, or color). We adopt the standard distinction (e.g., as in M. Bunge, 1979) between things (entities) and their properties (characteristics). A characteristic of an entity is observed through a measurement, which further asserts a value of the characteristic for the entity. A characteristic type (e.g., "height") can be associated with many different entities, whereas an individual characteristic (a particular occurrence of the "height" characteristic) is associated to exactly one entity.

Characteristic Qualifier
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  union of: Base Characteristic Qualifier
  union of: Composite Characteristic Qualifier
disjoint with: Entity
disjoint with: Measurement
disjoint with: Observation
disjoint with: Observation Collection
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
disjoint with: Unit Conversion
comment: A Characteristic Qualifier is a generic derived (e.g., computed) property of an entity that must be combined with concrete characteristics to be used in a measurement. A qualifier is either a base (atomic) or composite qualifier. As an example, the base qualifier Minimum can be combined with a characteristic Length to create a Minimum Length qualified characteristic. A composite qualifer is used to combine multiple qualifiers.

Composite Characteristic Qualifier
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic Qualifier
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasBaseQualifier
  on class: Base Characteristic Qualifier
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasNextQualifier
  on class: Characteristic Qualifier
  qualified cardinality: 1
comment: A Composite Qualifier is used to combine multiple qualifiers. Each composite qualifier has a base qualifier and a reference to another qualifier. Composite qualifiers are ordered (through hasNextQualifier) to distinguish between, e.g., AverageMinimum versus MinimumAverage.

Composite Unit
type: Class
subclass of: Unit
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasUnit
  on class: Class
    union of: Base Unit
    union of: Derived Unit
  min qualified cardinality: 2
comment: A CompositeUnit is a product at least two base or derived units. For example, 'meter per second square' denotes a composite unit defined over 'meter' (a base unit) and 'per second square' (a derived unit).

Context
type: Class
subclass of: Measurement
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasContextObservation
  some values from: Observation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: ofCharacteristic
  all values from: Relationship
comment: A context measurement is a special measurement for capturing the details of a contextual relationship among two observations. These details include a characteristic that asserts the relationship between the two entities being observed. Optionally, a protocol (e.g., defining the procedure for observing the relationship) and a standard can also be given (however, these will typically not be specified as part of context). The value of the context measurement is the contextualizing entity, and the observation for the context measurement is the contextualized observation.

Decimal
type: Class
subclass of: Primitive Value
disjoint with: String
comment: Represents any real number value (see the XSD decimal type).

Derived Unit
type: Class
subclass of: Unit
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasUnit
  on class: Class
    union of: Base Unit
    union of: Derived Unit
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasPower
  some values from: int
subclass of: Class
  complement of: Restriction
    on property: hasPower
    has value: 0
subclass of: Class
  complement of: Restriction
    on property: hasPower
    has value: 1
comment: A DerivedUnit raises a base unit to an integer power other than 0 or 1. For example, the unit 'square meter' is a unit derived from the 'meter' base unit raised to the power 2.

Entity
type: Class
disjoint with: Measurement
disjoint with: Observation
disjoint with: Observation Collection
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
comment: An entity denotes a concrete or conceptual object that has been observed (e.g., a tree, a community, an ecological process). We adopt the standard distinction (e.g., as in M. Bunge, 1979) between things (entities) and their properties (characteristics). Entities constitute the foci of observations, i.e., every observation is of exactly one entity.

Measurement
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: ofCharacteristic
  some values from: Characteristic
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: usesStandard
  some values from: Standard
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: measurementFor
  some values from: Observation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasValue
  some values from: Entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: usesProtocol
  some values from: Protocol
disjoint with: Observation
disjoint with: Observation Collection
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
comment: A measurement is an assertion that a characteristic of an entity was measured and/or recorded. A measurement is also composed of a value, a measurement standard, and a precision (associated with the measured value). Measurements also encapsulate characteristics that were recorded, but not necessarily measured in a physical sense. For example, the name of a location and a taxon can be captured through measurements.

Name
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic
disjoint with: Physical Characteristic
disjoint with: Relationship
disjoint with: Type
comment: A Name characteristic provides the name (or label) used for identifying (either globally or within a context) an entity.

Observation
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: ofEntity
  some values from: Entity
disjoint with: Observation Collection
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
comment: An observation represents an "observed entity," that is, an entity that was observed by an observer. An observation often consists of measurements that refer to one or more measured characteristics of the observed entity. Observations may also be made within a broader context. The context of an observation is given by other observations, implying that an observed entity (and specifically each corresponding measurement) contextualizes another observed entity (and its corresponding measurements). For example, an observation of a location may serve as context for an observation of an organism. In this case, the observed characteristic values of the location (such as humidity) are assumed constant for the observation of the organism.

Observation Collection
type: Class
disjoint with: Protocol
disjoint with: Standard
comment: An observation collection contains a set of observations.

Physical Characteristic
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic
disjoint with: Relationship
disjoint with: Type
comment: A Physical Characteristic of an Entity is one that is measurable within the physical world, and subsumes primary and derived physical dimensions (e.g., length, mass, area, density). The measured value assigned to a Physical characteristic may be a quantity (a numerical value) or a quality (a label).

Primitive Value
type: Class
subclass of: Entity
comment: A PrimitiveValue is an entity that represents a literal value (e.g., a number, a string, a a Boolean, etc.)

Protocol
type: Class
disjoint with: Standard
comment: A protocol represents a specific procedure that is used for generating or processing data.

Relationship
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic
disjoint with: Type
comment: A Relationship represents a directional (binary) association between two entities in which the observed entity is associated to the given entity. Examples include spatial (e.g., within, overlaps, adjacent), temporal (e.g., during, before, after), and composition (e.g., part of, has part) relationships.

Standard
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: standardFor
  some values from: Measurement
comment: A standard defines a reference for comparing or naming entities via a measurement. A standard can be defined intentionally (e.g., as in the case of units) or extensionally (by listing the values of the standard, e.g., for color this might be red, blue, yellow, etc).

String
type: Class
subclass of: Primitive Value
comment: Represents any character string value.

Type
type: Class
subclass of: Characteristic
comment: A Type characteristic provides the type (or class) of an entity as a measured (or observed) value. A typical example is a biological taxonomy designation.

Unit
type: Class
equivalent class: Class
  union of: Base Unit
  union of: Composite Unit
  union of: Derived Unit
subclass of: Standard
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: standardFor
  all values from: Class
    intersection of: Measurement
    intersection of: Restriction
      on property: ofCharacteristic
      all values from: Physical Characteristic
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: standardFor
  all values from: Class
    intersection of: Measurement
    intersection of: Restriction
      on property: hasValue
      all values from: Decimal
comment: The base class for physical measurement units.

Unit Conversion
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasSourceUnit
  some values from: Unit
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasTargetUnit
  some values from: Unit
comment: A UnitConversion defines a mapping from a source unit to a target unit via a multiplier and an offset.