MMI and R2R: Applying a Device Ontology to Research Vessels in the Academic Fleet

MMI and R2R: Applying a Device Ontology to Research Vessels in the U.S. Academic Fleet

R. Arko¹(arko@ldeo.columbia.edu), J. Graybeal², C. Rueda³, L. Bermudez⁴, S. Smith⁵
1 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
2 University of California, San Diego
3 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
4 Southeastern Universities Research Association
5 Florida State University

The NSF-funded Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R; rvdata.us) program envisions the academic research fleet as an integrated global observing system, with routine underway sensor data flowing directly from research vessels to a central shoreside repository. As part of its data stewardship plan, R2R is building a “cruise catalog” that includes an instrument metadata profile for each vessel. Robust instrument metadata will facilitate data discovery, reuse, and interoperability with other ocean observing systems.

Many vessels in the fleet are equipped with multibeam sonar mapping systems, acquiring swath data throughout the world's oceans and waterways. These data will be routinely cataloged and quality assessed through R2R; archived at the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC); and disseminated to partner projects such as the NSF-funded Global Multi-Resolution Topography (GMRT) synthesis. We are undertaking a prototype effort to develop a formal metadata profile for multibeam systems (e.g. installation/calibration, functional capabilities, and operational requirements), using the R2R catalog as a test bed, with resources provided by the Marine Metadata Interoperability (MMI; marinemetadata.org) project. Our work is based on semantics developed by the MMI Device Ontology Working Group, drawing on reference implementations and best practices from OOSTethys (oostethys.org) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Ocean Science Interoperability Experiment.