Transcript Slide 1

The National Map, Geospatial Ontology,
and the Semantic Web
E. Lynn Usery
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
[email protected]
http://cegis.usgs.gov
Outline
Background – The National Map
The National Map Ontology
A case of a Geospatial Ontology
Implementing The National Map on the
Semantic Web
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The National Map
The National Map is a collaborative effort to
improve and deliver topographic information
for the nation
The goal of The National Map is to become the
nation’s source for trusted, nationally
consistent, integrated and current topographic
information available online for a broad-range
of uses
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The National Map Vision
 A seamless, continuously
maintained, nationally consistent
set of base geographic data
 Developed and maintained
through partnerships
 A national foundation for science,
land and resource management,
recreation, policy making, and
homeland security
 Available over the Internet
 The source for revised
topographic maps
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The National Map
The National Map contributes to the NSDI
The National Map includes eight data layers: transportation,
structures, orthoimagery, hydrography, land cover, geographic
names, boundaries, and elevation
Public domain data to support
USGS topographic maps at 1:24,000-scale
Products and services at multiple scales and
resolutions
Analysis, modeling and other applications at
multiple scales and resolutions
The National Map is built on partnerships and
standards
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The 8 Layers of The National Map
Transportation
Structures
Orthoimagery
Hydrography
Land Cover
Geographic Names
Boundaries
Elevation
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Nationwide Coverage 8
Data Layers
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Generalization
Multiscale
Nationwide Coverage 8
Data Layers
Authoritative
Data Source
Integrated
Data
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Feature/
Event
Based
User-Centered
Design
E-Topo
Maps
Generalization
Multiscale
Nationwide Coverage 8
Data Layers
Quality
Aware
Authoritative
Data Source
Integrated
Data
Ontology
Driven
SpatioTemporal
Intelligent Knowledge Base
Semantics-driven
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TNM Progression: Transitions
TNM 1.0
TNM 2.0
TNM 3.0
Focus
Data
Information
Knowledge
Data
Layer based
Integrated layers
Feature and Event
based
Data Model
Theme based data
models
Integrated data
model
Intelligent
semantic/spatial/
temporal model
Delivery
Map and data
products
Service oriented
delivery
Intelligent knowledge
base on Semantic Web
Services
Viewer
GeoServices
Future Technologies &
Services (e.g.,
semantics-driven, 3-D
capabilities)
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Products of The National Map
Data display through The National Map viewer
New viewer, Palanterra, joint development from NGA,
ESRI, and USGS
Viewer goes public Dec 3, 2009
Data download of 8 layers
Topographic maps, 14,000 available now from USGS
Map Store, 3-year revision cycle
New topographic map goes public Dec 3, 2009 –
Example map, Altamont, Kansas
Digital, georeferenced versions of all previous
topographic maps for a specified 7.5-minute area
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Ontology for The National Map
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Feature Domains
Events
Divisions
Built-up areas
Ecological regime
Surface water
Terrain
Domains derived from ground surveys
incorporated in DLG standards
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Terrain includes 58 USGS landform
features
Aeolian
Arch
Bar
Basin
Beach
Bench
Cape
Catchment
Cave
Chimney
Cirque
Cliff
Coast
Crater
Crater
Delta
Dish
Divide
Drainage basin
Dunes
Fault
Floodplain
Fracture
Fumarole
Gap
Glacial
Ground surface
Hill
Incline
Island
Island cluster
Isthmus
Karst
Lava
Lava
Mineral pile
Moraine
Mount
Mountain Range
Peak
Peneplain
Peninsula
Pinnacle
Plain
Plateau
Quicksand
Reef
Ridge
Ridge line
Salt pan
Shaft
Sink
Solution chimneys
Summit
Talus
Terrace
Valley
Volcano
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Ecological Regime
Tundra
Desert
Grassland
Scrub
Forest
Pasture
Cultivated Cropland
Transition area
Nature reserve
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Natural/Artificial
Reach
hasPart: Bottom
Channel
Pond
Basin
Natural
Marine/Estuarine
Cove
Foreshore
Flat
Ice field (regional)
Estuarine
Marine
Estuary
Ocean
Bay
Sea
Inlet
Gulf
Submerged Stream
Shore
hasPart: Shingle
Shoreline
Beach
Ice floe (regional)
Polyna (regional)
Artificial
Freshwater
Watercourse
Waterbody
Stream
Lake
hasPart: Mouth
Ice cap (regional)
hasPart: Source
Snow field (regional)
hasPart: Streambed
Sastrugi (regional)
hasPart: Streambanks
hasPart: Crossing
hasPart: Ford
River
Creek
Brook
Arroyo
Rapids
Bend
Falls
Cascade
Waterfall
Innundation area
Spring
Mud pot
Geyser
Slope spring
Ice berg (regional)
hasPart: Iceberg tongue
Glacier (regional)
Crevasse (regional)
Wetland
Marsh
Swamp
Bog
Impounded
Diked
Reservoir
Levee
Fish ladder
Embankment
hasPart: Revetment
Dam
Masonry shore
Channel
Siphon
Aqueduct
Canal
Flume
Turning basin
Flow Control
Weir
Lock
hasPart:Lock chamber
hasPart: Stram
Spillway
Jetty
Breakwater
Water intake
Pump
Surface Water
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Built-up
Transportation and warehousing
Entertainment and Recreation
Utilities
Resource Extraction
Structure
Agriculture and Fishing
Military
Communication
Waste Management
Real Estate
Place of Worship
Manufacturing
Institutions
Burial Grounds
Disturbed Surface
Trade
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16
13
12
11
10
7
7
6
6
4
3
3
3
3
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Divisions
Civil Units
Cadastral
Nation
Parcel
Territory
Public Land Survey System
Tribal reservation
Land grant
State
Homestead entry
County
Survey line
Census
Principle meridian
State
Baseline
County
Survey point
Census county division
Point monument
Block group
Survey corner
Block
Government unit
Municipality
City
Town
Villiage
Tract
Special use zone
Time zone
Nature reserve
Boundaries
Fenceline
Hedge
Place
Region
Locale
Boundary line
Boundary point
Hydrologic unit
Shipping
Lane
Traffic separation scheme
area
Pilot water
Roundabout
Inshore trafic zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
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Events
Security
Historical site
Hazard
Hazard zone
Earthquake
Incident
Military history
Historical
marker
Flood
Fire
Tree
Area to be
submerged
Restricted area
Archeological
site
Cliff dwelling
Ruins
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Ontology implementation
Classes established for all domain-level
ontologies
Glossary of definitions from classes
Establishing axioms (in progress)
Spatial relations
Working on predicates; some from OGC
Identifying which predicates are needed,
which are in OGC, and which ones work
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Spatial Relations
Some relations are inherent in the class, e.g.,
bridge implies crossing
Most are applied when instances are integrated
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Geographical Scale
Ontological problem
Geographic features exist in reality, but reality
cannot be separated from the observer
Ontology instances are consistent granularity
Quantification of scale in representation
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Application
For The National Map, integrate ontology with
the database schemas
Each layer has a schema
Best Practices Data Model (transportation,
structures, boundaries)
NHD data model for hydrography
Features from raster data in work
For example, terrain features from DEM and
images
Ecological regimes?
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Task ontologies
User interface
Data integration
Generalization
Map design and creation
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Developing a Semantic Data Model?
Current research
Moving from existing Best Practices, NHD, and
raster data models to the Semantic Web
Can database conversions to Semantic Web
accomplish this objective?
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Converting geospatial databases to
the Semantic Web
GNIS already loaded in RDF
Converting Oracle databases in NHD and Best
Practices data models to RDF, RDFS, OWL,
and other standards
Developing feature/event-based semantic data
model
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Scenarios for use of The National Map in 2015
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Information Access and Dissemination
Wildfires are spreading rapidly across a San Diego mountainside. Fire fighters
have deployed with two-way radios and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). In the
command center, the new 3-D topographic maps overlaid with near real-time airborne colorinfrared thermal imagery, real-time GPS wireless sensor data, and National Weather Service
maps of wind direction, precipitation potential, and temperature displayed on the computers
allow the command center team to tell the fire fighters through their two-way radios where the
wildfire boundaries are and help them estimate the likely fire spread directions and speed in
the next two hours. The operators at the command center find it intuitive to toggle between
the various layers of data to analyze the situation, and can select different combinations to
produce PDF files for fast printing to distribute to the crews. Meanwhile, the GPS and wireless
communication enable the transmission of the position of the crew back to the command
center, which has a large screen to display the overview maps with current positions of all
firefighters and current fire perimeters. With a comprehensive GIS modeling technology and
the information provided from The National Map (topography, slope, aspect, weather, soil
moisture, vegetation, etc.), the command and control center calculates potential dangers for
firefighters and immediately distributes a warning to the crews on the west side of the
mountain to relocate 300 m farther west. Based on information from the overview maps, the
center also dispatches another crew to the highest-risk zone and moves two more toward that
zone. Their earlier participation in design phases are paying off in powerful but easy to use
geospatial tools in a frantic and hostile environment.
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Integration of Data from Multiple Sources
The San Diego fire is not yet contained. The crew assesses the current
boundary of the fire, overlaid on the topographic map, which explains
the difficulty of containing the spread up slope; however, there is still
the unexplained spread to the east. The crew accesses the National
Weather Service wind forecast, which is provided at a scale of
1:125,000 compared to the topographic map at 1:24,000. The crew
invokes a tool for generalization of the topographic map to the
smaller scale weather data, and a trend emerges. To determine high
priority targets, the crew calls up an address directory and uses
simple controls to geocode the addresses spatially on the fire map,
showing location of structures in the fire’s path. To understand
possible paths to fire sites, another layer with roads and another with
trails are spatially matched (conflated) with the generalized map of
topography. Finally, a remote sensing image with vegetation types is
fused with the other layers to determine potential fuel loads for the
fire path.
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Data Models and Knowledge Organization Systems
A California regional dispatch operator gets a call about a new fire that has just
been spotted in Sycamore Canyon. The caller further indicates that the fire is
moving quickly up the west face of the canyon. The dispatcher does not
know Sycamore Canyon or its location. Using a local geographic region
profile to search the online The National Map, the dispatcher enters
Sycamore Canyon and obtains a coordinate footprint of the canyon from The
National Map Gazetteer. Using the returned footprint, the dispatch system
zooms to the canyon’s location. The dispatcher selects an option within The
National Map portal that uses the canyon footprint to automatically query
geospatial databases housed in several different locations to obtain
information on roads, streams, land cover, houses, and fire hydrants within
the canyon. In addition, the dispatcher is able to select a 3D image of the
canyon terrain that is offered as part of the initial query results. The
dispatcher clicks the west wall of the canyon to select it and adds annotation
that the fire was sighted moving rapidly up this face. The National Map portal
seamlessly integrates the retrieved streams, roads, houses, and land cover
onto the 3D display and the dispatcher sends the assembled dataset to the
fire control and command center. With this information in hand, an
emergency response team departs only minutes after the call was received.
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Addressing the Presented Scenario
Immediate access to information based on common place name
Intuitive user interface, semantically-driven
Automated generalization and data integration (fusion, conflation)
Explicit representation of a landform feature (canyon) as a
queryable object in the database, and explicit definition
Representation of landform feature parts as objects (canyon wall)
Quality data on feature basis
Space and time changes incorporated
Features changed on transaction basis
Semantics driven query and access
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Research needed to make the scenario
possible from The National Map
Geographic feature ontologies (hydrography,
transportation, structures, boundaries, land cover,
terrain, and image)
Semantic geographic data models based on features
and events from these ontologies, and an
associated gazetteer replacing the Geographic
Names Information System (GNIS)
Ontology-driven generalization, data integration, userinterfaces, map generation
Ontology-driven semantic data models for quality
aware features and events supporting time, change,
and semantics-driven transactions
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Workshop concepts addressing needs of
Ontology and Semantics of The National Map
Region Connection Calculus (RCC) in the Web Ontology
Language (OWL) augmented by DL-safe rules is used in
order to represent spatio-thematic knowledge
Semi-automated semantic process for feature conflation that
solves the type-matching problem using ontologies to
determine similar feature types, and then uses business
rules to automate the merge of geospatial features
Generic categories to model the purpose of geographyrelated ontologies
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Workshop concepts addressing needs of
Ontology and Semantics of The National Map
Semantic Enablement Layer for OGC Web services
Tight Integration between space and semantics
What activity is allowed here? Spatial planning with
semantics
Designing a geo-spatial application addressed to finalusers and based on Semantic Web
2D geospatial indexing for proximity queries, extending
to 3D and 4D to support moving objects (MOBs)
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The National Map, Geospatial Ontology,
and the Semantic Web
E. Lynn Usery
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
[email protected]
http://cegis.usgs.gov