Use Case 1: Soil Data Integration

Copyright © 2016 Open Geospatial Consortium. 13 In a fully interoperable system there would be interdependencies between the use cases. 1. Use case 4 would use data published by services implemented to provide data according to use cases 1, 2 and 3. 2. Use case 3 would include data from services supporting use cases 1, 2 and 4 along with other environmental datasets when generating the predictions. 8 Comparison of Existing Soil Information Models Various national and international initiatives have worked on information models to support the exchange of soil data. This experiment intended to reconcile core concepts and features of these models into a single coherent, fully attributed, implementable, albeit provisional, standard. The five models that were reviewed in this IE were: 1. Australia and New Zealand Soil Mark-up Language ANZSoilML; 2. e-SOTER Soil and Terrain Mark-up Language SoTerML; 3. INSPIRE D2.8.III.3 Data Specification on Soil INSPIRE Soil; 4. ISO 28258:2013 Soil quality – Digital exchange of soil-related data ISO SoilML; and 5. IUSSISO ‘Wageningen Proposal’ a variation of 4 with reference to 1, 2 and 3. This section provides an overview of the models, comparing their breadth of content and modeling technique. A summary of each model can be found in Annex B.

8.1 Basis for comparison

The models were compared according to their scope, the modeling techniques and patterns used in their definition, whether they are readily available and implemented, and the context in which they have been used e.g. production or prototype. Only documents that could reasonably be considered normative and were of unambiguous origin were used for the comparison UML models and XML Schema Documents. Scope refers to the breadth of information captured by each model. As each model has a different level of abstraction and conceptual base an external basis for comparison was necessary. The FAO Guidelines for Soil Description [3], with additional guidance from the USDA Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils [11], was adapted to define and group the key dimensions of a soil. The comparison is only intended to be indicative of scope and does not imply strict conformance to the FAO and USDA guidelines. The criteria for comparison can be grouped into eight categories: