JSON-LD Conceptual Reference

The following are a variety of concepts and their corresponding definitions. These concepts may show up within the vocabularies of a JSON-LD document that can be ingested by Geoconnex.

Geoconnex-specific JSON-LD Properties

Property	Description
measurementTechnique	The measurementTechnique property is meant to provide a way for data providers to "tag" their data with a general sense of how it was created, to help distinguish between aspects such as observed vs modeled data, or in-situ vs. remote-sensed data. It is a supplement to measurementMethod. Multiple measurementTechniques can be specified. The codelist below can be used to choose terms from. Terms are derived from the USGS Thesaurus and the ODM2 methodType vocabulary.
measurementMethod	Identifies the specific method used and provides a link to documentation specific enough to replicate the method.

Types of measurementTechnique

Value of measurementTechnique	Definition
observation	This term is meant to group data generating procedures that occur primarily to directly measure phenomena. Examples include ground-based sensors like streamgages and weather stations, but also discrete water quality samples, habitat assessments, ecological surveys, and surveys of individuals, households, and organizations, as well as remote sensing. However, this category can include datasets that use procedures for gap filling missing data (e.g. streamgage data with sensor malfunction period data estimated from time series models)
model	This term is refers to data that are generated rather than observed. It groups data generating procedures that generate data for hypothetical states at discrete locations, such as (but not limited to): - the future (e.g. river stage forecasts like the gage location-based forecasts from the NOAA Advanced Hydrologic Prediction System) - counterfactuals (e.g. hydrologic models under varying assumptions about dam removal or reservoir operations) - the unobserved past and present at the feature of interest (e.g. water quality models for parameters based on climate and upstream effluent discharge data)
field methods	Research procedures and instrumental means to measure, collect data and samples, and observe in the natural areas where the materials, phenomena, structures, or species being studied occur.
remote sensing	Acquiring information about a natural feature or phenomenon, such as the Earth's surface, without actually being in contact with it. Typically carried out with airborne or spaceborne sensors or cameras.
estimation	A method for creating results by estimation or professional judgement.
derivation	A method for creating results by deriving them from other results. Datasets in this category may be generated from algorithms or human processes that combine heterogeneous source data into latent or derived variables (e.g. composite indexes such as health risk scores or regulatory categorizations such as "in compliance"), or spatially aggregate data from smaller geographic units to larger ones (e.g. Census area-based reporting), as long as the data is representing the phenomena of interest at the time and place it actually occurred and was measured.