Change Requests | OGC

OGC 10-025r1

Open Geospatial Consortium
Date: 2011-03-22
Reference number of this OGC® project document:
OGC name of this OGC® project document:

OGC 10-025r1

http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/OMXML/2.0
Version: 2.0
Category: OGC® Implementation
Editor: Simon Cox

Observations and Measurements - XML Implementation
Copyright notice
Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.
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OpenGIS® Implementation standard
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OGC 10-025r1

Contents
i. 

Abstract .................................................................................................................. v 

ii. 

Keywords ............................................................................................................... v 

iii. 

Preface .................................................................................................................... v 

iv. 


Submitting organizations .................................................................................... vi 

v. 

Submission contact points ................................................................................... vi 

vi. 

Changes to the OGC® Abstract Specification ................................................... vi 

vii. 

Future work ......................................................................................................... vii 

Foreword ......................................................................................................................... viii 
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... ix 


Scope....................................................................................................................... 1 



2.1 
2.2 
2.3 

Conformance ......................................................................................................... 1 
Overview ................................................................................................................ 1 
Specification identifier .......................................................................................... 1 
Conformance classes related to Observations and Measurements
instances ................................................................................................................. 2 



Normative references ............................................................................................ 4 



Terms and definitions ........................................................................................... 5 



5.1 
5.2 
5.3 

Conventions ........................................................................................................... 7 
Abbreviated terms ................................................................................................ 7 
Schema language ................................................................................................... 7 
Document presentation of the specification ........................................................ 7 


6.1 
6.2 
6.3 
6.4 

XML Schema for Observations and Sampling Features................................... 8 
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 8 
XML Schema Packaging ...................................................................................... 8 
XML elements ....................................................................................................... 9 

Conformance with O&M model .......................................................................... 9 


7.1 
7.2 
7.3 
7.4 
7.5 
7.6 
7.7 
7.8 

Requirements for XML instances of Observations and Measurements ........ 15 
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 15 
Virtual typing strategy ....................................................................................... 15 
Requirements class: Generic observation data ................................................ 17 
Requirements class: Measurement data ........................................................... 17 
Requirements class: Category observation data .............................................. 18 
Requirements class: Count observation data ................................................... 18 
Requirements class: Truth observation data ................................................... 19 

Requirements class: Geometry observation data............................................. 19 

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7.9 
7.10 
7.11 
7.12 
7.13 
7.14 
7.15 
7.16 
7.17 
7.18 
7.19 
7.20 


Requirements class: Temporal observation data ............................................. 20 
Requirements class: Complex observation data .............................................. 20 
Requirements class: SWE scalar observation data.......................................... 21 
Requirements class: SWE array observation data .......................................... 22 
Requirements class: Spatial observation data .................................................. 22 
Requirements class: Sampling feature data ..................................................... 23 
Requirements class: Spatial sampling feature data ......................................... 24 
Requirements class: Sampling point data......................................................... 24 
Requirements class: Sampling curve data ........................................................ 25 
Requirements class: Sampling surface data ..................................................... 25 
Requirements class: Sampling solid data ......................................................... 26 
Requirements class: Specimen data .................................................................. 26 



Media types for Observations and Measurements data .................................. 28 

Annex A 
Abstract test suite (normative) .............................................................. 29 

A.1  Conformance class: Generic observation data ................................................. 29 
A.2  Conformance class: Measurement data ............................................................ 30 
A.3  Conformance class: Category observation data............................................... 31 
A.4  Conformance class: Count observation data .................................................... 31 
A.5  Conformance class: Truth observation data .................................................... 32 
A.6  Conformance class: Geometry observation data ............................................. 32 
A.7  Conformance class: Temporal observation data ............................................. 33 
A.8  Conformance class: Complex observation data ............................................... 33 
A.9  Conformance class: SWE scalar observation data .......................................... 34 
A.10  Conformance class: SWE array observation data ........................................... 35 
A.11  Conformance class: Spatial observation data .................................................. 35 
A.12  Conformance class: Sampling feature data ...................................................... 36 
A.13  Conformance class: Spatial Sampling feature data ......................................... 37 
A.14  Conformance class: Sampling point data ......................................................... 38 
A.15  Conformance class: Sampling curve data......................................................... 39 
A.16  Conformance class: Sampling surface data ...................................................... 39 
A.17  Conformance class: Sampling solid data .......................................................... 40 
A.18  Conformance class: Specimen data ................................................................... 40 
Annex B 
XML Schema implementation (informative) ....................................... 42 
B.1  GML Application Schema .................................................................................. 42 
B.2  Encoding rule ...................................................................................................... 42 
B.2.1  Variations from standard GML encoding rule ................................................ 42 
B.2.2  Virtual sub-typing of specialized classes ........................................................... 43 
B.2.3  Global property elements ................................................................................... 44 
Annex C 
Example OMXML documents (informative) ....................................... 46 
C.1  Introduction ......................................................................................................... 46 
C.2  Observation data ................................................................................................. 46 
C.2.1  A scalar observation whose result is a Measure ............................................... 46 
C.2.2  A scalar observation whose result is a classification or category ................... 47 
C.2.3  An observation whose result is provided out-of-band ..................................... 47 
C.2.4  Observation with complex result ....................................................................... 48 
C.2.5  Observation with complex result –SWE TextBlock encoding ........................ 50 
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C.2.6 
C.2.7 
C.3 
C.3.1 
C.3.2 
C.3.3 
C.3.4 
C.4 

Observation with complex result – alternative schema for result .................. 51 
Observation with spatial location indicated in a parameter ........................... 53 
Spatial sampling features ................................................................................... 54 
Sampling Point .................................................................................................... 54 
Sampling Curve with metadata ......................................................................... 55 
Sampling feature collection – sampling curve with association stations ....... 56 
Sampling curve with embedded observations .................................................. 59 
Specimens............................................................................................................. 64 

Document revision history ............................................................................................. 66 

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i.

Abstract

This standard specifies an XML implementation for the OGC and ISO Observations and
Measurements (O&M) conceptual model (OGC Observations and Measurements v2.0
also published as ISO/DIS 19156), including a schema for Sampling Features. This
encoding is an essential dependency for the OGC Sensor Observation Service (SOS)
Interface Standard.
More specifically, this standard defines XML schemas for observations, and for features
involved in sampling when making observations. These provide document models for the
exchange of information describing observation acts and their results, both within and
between different scientific and technical communities.

ii.

Keywords

ogcdoc, o&m, observations, measurements, swe, iso_19156, sos, gml

iii.

Preface

The Observations and Measurements XML Implementation standard is part of the
revision and refactoring of O&M for its publication in two parts
(i) The conceptual model (in UML) is being published as ISO 19156 through ISO/TC
211, and jointly by OGC as a Topic 20 of the Abstract Specification.
(ii) The XML implementation is being published by OGC as an independent document
- in recognition of the fact that XML is only one of all the possible implementations
for O&M
- to decouple maintenance of the implementation from revision of the abstract model
- to better reflect the scope of activities and publications appropriate to ISO and
OGC.

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iv.

Submitting organizations

The following organizations submitted this Implementation Specification to the Open
Geospatial Consortium Inc. as an Implementation Specification.
a) CSIRO Australia
b) European Commission – Joint Research Centre
c) International Geospatial Services Institute GmbH (iGSI)
d) interactive instruments
e) Science and Technology Facilities Council, NERC, UK
f) IfGI - University of Muenster
g) SpotImage
h) Geoscience Australia

v.

Submission contact points

All questions regarding this submission should be directed to the editor or the submitters:
CONTACT

vi.

COMPANY

Simon Cox

European Commission – Joint Research Centre,
CSIRO Australia

Andrew Woolf

STFC

Johannes Echterhoff

iGSI

Clemens Portele

interactive instruments

Alexandre Robin

SpotImage

Peter Taylor

CSIRO Australia

Chris Body

Geoscience Australia

Christoph Stasch

IfGI

Changes to the OGC® Abstract Specification

The OGC® Abstract Specification does not require changes to accommodate this OGC®
standard.
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vii.

Future work

Requirements and conformance classes for coverage observations will be defined when
consensus has been reached and a standard published for a comprehensive OGC/GML
encoding for coverages. This may be in a revision of this document, or in a separate
specification.

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OGC 10-025r1

Foreword
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be
the subject of patent rights. Open Geospatial Consortium Inc. shall not be held
responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. However, to date, no such rights
have been claimed or identified.
Recipients of this document are requested to submit, with their comments, notification of
any relevant patent claims or other intellectual property rights of which they may be
aware that might be infringed by any implementation of the specification set forth in this
document, and to provide supporting documentation.

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OGC 10-025r1

Introduction
This Standard arises from work originally undertaken through the Open Geospatial
Consortium’s Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) activity. SWE is concerned with
establishing interfaces and protocols that will enable a “Sensor Web” through which
applications and services will be able to access sensors of all types, and observations
generated by them, over the Web. SWE has defined, prototyped and tested several
components needed for a Sensor Web, namely:
− Sensor Model Language (SensorML).
− Observations & Measurements (O&M)
− Sensor Observation Service (SOS).
− Sensor Planning Service (SPS).
The SWE Architecture is described in the OGC Sensor Web Enablement Architecture
[OGC 06-021r4] Best Practice document.

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Observations and Measurements - XML Implementation

1

Scope

This Standard defines an XML implementation of schemas for observations, and for
features involved in sampling when making observations. These provide document
models for the exchange of information describing observation acts and their results, both
within and between different scientific and technical communities.
The implementation is derived from a conceptual model defined in OGC Observations
and Measurements v2.0 (also published as ISO/DIS 19156), and follows the rules for
GML Application Schemas described in OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2 (also
published as ISO 19136:2007).
2
2.1

Conformance
Overview

This Standard defines an XML implementation of the conceptual models for describing
observations and sampling features. The implementation is described using the XML
Schema language and Schematron.
Requirements for one standardization target type are considered:
-

data instances, i.e. XML documents that encode observation data for exchange;

Since data producing applications should generate conformant data instances, the
requirements and tests described in this standard also apply to this standardization target.
NOTE:
It is recognized that requirements and tests for a second standardization target type (data consuming
applications, i.e. data processing software that accepts observation data as input) are also highly desirable. However, a
general solution to specifying this target this is more challenging and has been deferred.

2.2

Specification identifier

All requirements-classes and conformance-classes described in this document are owned
by the specification identified as http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0.

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2.3

Conformance classes related to Observations and Measurements instances

The conformance rules are based on XML validation using the XML Schema
representation of OMXML, together with processing of constraints expressed using
Schematron assertions and reports.
Annex A defines a set of tests and conformance classes that will support various
applications with a range of different requirements. 18 conformance classes are
distinguished.

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Table 1 — Conformance classes related Observations and Measurements instances
Conformance class

Description

Clause

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/observation

Observation data

A.1

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/measurement

Measurement data

A.2

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/categoryObservation

Category observation data

A.3

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/countObservation

Count observation data

A.4

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/truthObservation

Truth observation data

A.5

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/geometryObservation

Geometry observation data

A.6

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/temporalObservation

Temporal observation data

A.7

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/complexObservation

Complex observation data

A.8

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/SWEScalarObservation

Observation data with result
encoded as a SWE Common
simple data component

A.9

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/SWEArrayObservation

Observation data with result
encoded as a SWE Common
block data component

A.10

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/spatialObservation

Spatially keyed observation data

A.11

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/sampling

Sampling feature data

A.12

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/spatialSampling

Spatial sampling feature data

A.13

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingPoint

Sampling point data

A.14

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingCurve

Sampling curve data

A.15

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingSurface

Sampling surface data

A.16

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingSolid

Sampling solid data

A.17

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/specimen

Specimen data

A.18

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Normative references

The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this
document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
Geographic information – metadata – XML implementation ISO/TS 19139:2007.
urn:iso:TS:iso:19139
OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2 OGC Document 07-036
http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/GML/3.2 (also published as ISO 19136:2007,
Geographic information — Geography Markup Language)
MIME Media Types for GML OGC Document 09-141r1
http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=37743
Namespaces in XML 1.0 (Third Edition) W3C Recommendation (8 December 2009)
http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/
OGC Observations and Measurements v2.0 OGC Document 10-004r1
http://www.opengis.net/doc/AS/OM/2.0 (also published as ISO/DIS 19156:2010,
Geographic information — Observations and Measurements)
OGC Naming Authority (OGC-NA) Policies & Procedures OGC Document 09-046r2
http://www.opengis.net/doc/POL/OGC-NA/1.1
Policy Directives for Writing and Publishing OGC Standards: TC Decisions. OGC
Document 06-135r9. http://www.opengis.net/doc/POL/Standards/2.0.3
Schematron: ISO/IEC 19757-3, Information technology — Document Schema Definition
Languages (DSDL) — Part 3: Rule-based validation — Schematron
http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/c040833_ISO_IEC_197573_2006(E).zip
The Specification Model — A Standard for Modular specifications OGC Document 08131r3. http://www.opengis.net/doc/POL/MOD-SPEC/1.0
OGC SWE Common Data Model Encoding Standard v2.0 OGC Document 08-094r1
http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/SWE/2.0
XML Schema Part 1: Structures Second Edition. W3C Recommendation (28 October
2004) http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-1/
XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes Second Edition. W3C Recommendation (28 October
2004) http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/

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4

Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
4.1
all-components document
XML schema document that includes, either directly or indirectly, all of the components
defined and declared in a namespace
[OGC Policy Directives. http://www.opengis.net/doc/POL/Standards/2.0.3]
4.2
application schema
conceptual schema for data required by one or more applications
[ISO 19101:2002, definition 4.2]
4.3
element

basic information item of an XML document containing child elements, attributes and
character data
[ISO 19136:2007]
NOTE From the XML Information Set: ―Each XML document contains one or more elements, the boundaries of
which are either delimited by start-tags and end-tags, or, for empty elements, by an empty-element tag. Each element
has a type, identified by name, sometimes called its ‗generic identifier‘ (GI), and may have a set of attribute
specifications. Each attribute specification has a name and a value.

4.4
GML application schema
application schema written in XML Schema in accordance with the rules specified in ISO
19136:2007
[ISO 19136:2007]
4.5
GML document
XML document with a root element that is one of the elements AbstractFeature,
Dictionary or TopoComplex specified in the GML schema or any element of a
substitution group of any of these elements
[ISO 19136:2007]
4.6
GML schema
schema components in the XML namespace ―http://www.opengis.net/gml/3.2
specified in ISO 19136:2007

as

[ISO 19136:2007]
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4.7
measurement
set of operations having the object of determining the value of a quantity
[ISO/TS 19101-2:2008, definition 4.20]
4.8
observation
act of observing a property
NOTE

The goal of an observation may be to measure or otherwise determine the value of a property

[ISO/DIS 19156:2010]
4.9
observation result
estimate of the value of a property determined through a known procedure
[ISO/DIS 19156:2010]
4.10
sampling feature
feature, such as a station, transect, section or specimen, which is involved in making
observations concerning a domain feature
NOTE
A sampling feature is purely an artefact of the observational strategy, and has no significance independent
of the observational campaign.

[ISO/DIS 19156:2010]
4.11
schema
collection of schema components within the same target namespace
EXAMPLE Schema components of W3C XML Schema are types, elements, attributes, groups, etc.

[ISO 19136:2007]
4.12
schema document
XML document containing schema component definitions and declarations
NOTE The W3C XML Schema provides an XML interchange format for schema information. A single schema
document provides descriptions of components associated with a single XML namespace, but several documents may
describe components in the same schema, i.e. the same target namespace.

[ISO 19136:2007]

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5

Conventions

5.1

Abbreviated terms

GML

Geography Markup Language

O&M

Observations and Measurements

OMXML

Observations and Measurements XML Implementation

OGC

Open Geospatial Consortium

SOS

Sensor Observation Service

SWE

Sensor Web Enablement

UML

Unified Modeling Language

XML

Extensible Markup Language

XSD

W3C XML Schema Definition Language

5.2

Schema language

The XML implementation specified in this Standard is described using the XML Schema
language (XSD) [XML Schema Part 1: Structures , XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes] and
Schematron [ISO/IEC 19757-3, Information technology — Document Schema Definition
Languages (DSDL) — Part 3: Rule-based validation — Schematron ].
5.3

Document presentation of the specification

This document presents the OMXML specification using a representation that follows the
structures defined in the OGC Policy [The Specification Model — A Standard for
Modular specifications]. All normative material is organized as requirements,
requirements classes, conformance tests and conformance classes. Each is identified with
a URI, and the content and dependencies are described in tables whose structure matches
the specification model.

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6

XML Schema for Observations and Sampling Features

6.1

Introduction

6.2

XML Schema Packaging

OMXML is packaged in schema documents describing four XML namespaces together
with 16 Schematron schemas defining additional XML constraints. The OMXML
schemas are available from the OGC schema repository at http://schemas.opengis.net.
There are dependencies on components from seven XML namespaces described in other
standards.
NOTE: Different XML Namespaces allow for independent maintenance (versioning) of groups of components without
impacting on their dependencies.

The XML Namespaces for OMXML and their representations as XML Schema
documents are listed in Table 2. The OMXML Schematron schemas are listed in Table 3.
The external dependencies are listed in Table 4. The direct dependencies between XML
Schemas (implemented as elements) are shown in Figure 1.
NOTE: In the XML Schema context, direct dependencies are those namespaces that are the target of an
element. In the Schematron context, dependencies are loaded using and elements.

obj ect XML Schemas

om
spec

gml
sam

sams
gmd

xlink

Figure 1. OMXML XML Schema dependencies. Dependency arrows indicate
elements in the schemas. Names correspond to the default namespace
prefixes listed in Tables 2 and 4.

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6.3

XML elements

The schema is conformant to the rules for a GML Application Schema [OGC Geography
Markup Language v3.2] and follows a UML to XML encoding rule explained in Annex
C. This means that UML classes are implemented as XML elements, through global
declarations in the XML schema. The correspondence of XML elements to the classes
from OGC Observations and Measurements v2.0 is given in Table 5.
The XML encoding also makes use of type identifiers, provided as OGC URIs. A
mapping of the UML classes to OGC URIs, and the corresponding XML content model
constraints are given in Tables 6 and 7. These are used in the requirements classes
described in Clause 7.
6.4

Conformance with O&M model

OMXML satisfies the 'Conformance Classes related to Application Schemas including
Observations and Measurements' listed in Clause 2.2 of OGC Observations and
Measurements v2.0 . The map from O&M v2.0 Conformance Classes to OMXML is
given in Table 8.
NOTE: the conceptual model in OGC Observations and Measurements v2.0 specifies specialized observation types
with coverage results. However, the XML encoding for coverages is under active discussion at the time of preparation
of this standard, so there is no specific implementation of these in OMXML pending resolution of this discussion. Note
that the generic observation class may still have a coverage-valued result.

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Table 2 — XML Namespaces defined for this implementation of the Observations and Measurements schema
XML Namespace

Default
namespace
prefix

Canonical location of all-components schema document

http://www.opengis.net/om/2.0

om

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/observation.xsd

http://www.opengis.net/sampling/2.0

sam

http://schemas.opengis.net/sampling/2.0/samplingFeature.xsd

http://www.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0

sams

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/spatialSamplingFeature.xsd

http://www.opengis.net/samplingSpecimen/2.0

spec

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpecimen/2.0/specimen.xsd

Table 3 — Schematron schemas used in this implementation of the Observations and Measurements schema
Schematron schemas for observations

10

Schematron schemas for observations and sampling features

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/categoryObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/complexObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/countObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/SWEArrayObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/geometryObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/SWEScalarObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/measurement.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/samplingCurve.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/spatialObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/samplingPoint.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/temporalObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/samplingSolid.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/truthObservation.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/samplingSurface.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/om/2.0/resultTypeConsistent.sch

http://schemas.opengis.net/samplingSpatial/2.0/shapeTypeConsistent.sch

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

OGC 10-025r1

Table 4 — External XML Namespaces used in this implementation of the Observations and Measurements schema
Standard

XML Namespace

Default
namespace
prefix

Canonical location of all-components schema document
(if required)

XML Schema

http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema

xs

Schematron

http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron

sch

XSLT v2

http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform

xsl

XML Linking Language

http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink

xlink

http://schemas.opengis.net/xlink/1.0.0/xlinks.xsd

OGC GML 3.2.1

http://www.opengis.net/gml/3.2

gml

http://schemas.opengis.net/gml/3.2.1/gml.xsd

ISO TS 19139 metadata
XML implementation

http://www.isotc211.org/2005/gmd

gmd

http://schemas.opengis.net/iso/19139/20070417/gmd/gmd.xsd

OGC SWE Common

http://www.opengis.net/swe/2.0

swe

http://schemas.opengis.net/sweCommon/2.0/swe.xsd

Table 5 — Map of UML classes in O&M v2.0 to XML elements in OMXML
O&M v2.0

OMXML

O&M v2.0

OMXML

OM_CategoryObservation

om:OM_Observation

ObservationContext

om:ObservationContext

OM_ComplexObservation

om:OM_Observation

PreparationStep

spec:PreparationStep

OM_CountObservation

om:OM_Observation

SamplingFeatureComplex

sam:SamplingFeatureComplex

1

OM_DiscreteCoverageObservation

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingCurve

sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

OM_GeometryObservation

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingFeature

sam:SF_SamplingFeature

OM_Measurement

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingFeatureCollection

sam:SF_SamplingFeatureCollection

OM_Observation

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingPoint

sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

1

OM_PointCoverageObservation

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingSolid

sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

OM_TemporalObservation

om:OM_Observation

SF_SamplingSurface

sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

OM_TimeSeriesObservation

om:OM_Observation1

SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

OM_TruthObservation

om:OM_Observation

SF_Specimen

spec:SF_Specimen

4.13

1

Coverage observations are implemented by the generic om:OM_Observation but there are no specific conformance tests.

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

11

OGC 10-025r1

Table 6 — Map of UML classes in O&M v2.0 to OGC observation-type names and observation result-types
O&M v2.0

OGC Name

Content of result in OMXML1

OM_CategoryObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_CategoryObservation

type='gml:ReferenceType'

OM_ComplexObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_ComplexObservation

swe:DataRecord

OM_CountObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_CountObservation

type='xs:integer'

OM_DiscreteCoverageObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_DiscreteCoverageObservation

-2
or a reference using xlink attributes

OM_GeometryObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_GeometryObservation

gml:AbstractGeometry3

OM_Measurement

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_Measurement

type='gml:MeasureType'

OM_Observation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_Observation

type='xs:anyType'4

OM_PointCoverageObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_PointCoverageObservation

-2
or a reference using xlink attributes

OM_TemporalObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_TemporalObservation

gml:AbstractTimeObject3

OM_TimeSeriesObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_TimeSeriesObservation

-2
or a reference using xlink attributes

OM_TruthObservation

http://www.opengis.net/def/observationType/OGCOM/2.0/OM_TruthObservation

type='xs:boolean

1

An XML element name indicates that the result in this case has element content; type='…' indicates that the result has 'simple' (nonelement) content.
2

gml:AbstractDiscreteCoverage, cvi:CV_AbstractDiscreteCoverage, gml:MultiPointCoverage, cvi:CV_DiscretePointCoverage are
available for encoding coverages in XML, but the preferred OGC encoding for coverages is under revision.

12

3

A concrete member of the substitution group shall substitute for an abstract element.

4

Any well-formed XML can substitute for xs:anyType.

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

OGC 10-025r1

Table 7 — Map of UML classes in O&M v2.0 to OGC sampling-feature-type names and spatial-sampling-feature shape-types
O&M v2.0

OGC Name

Content of shape in OMXML

SF_SamplingFeature

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingFeature

-

SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SpatialSamplingFeature

gml:AbstractGeometry1

SF_SamplingPoint

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingPoint

gml:Point

SF_SamplingCurve

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingCurve

gml:AbstractCurve1

SF_SamplingSurface

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingSurface

gml:AbstractSurface1

SF_SamplingSolid

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingSolid

gml:AbstractSolid1

SF_Specimen

http://www.opengis.net/def/samplingFeatureType/OGCOM/2.0/SF_SamplingSpecimen

-

1

A concrete member of the substitution group shall substitute for an abstract element.

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

13

OGC 10-025r1

Table 8 —Map of O&M v2.0 Conformance Classes to OMXML.
O&M v2.0 Conformance Class
Generic observation interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/observation

Measurement interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/measurement

Specialized
observation
interchange

Category observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/categoryObservation

Count observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/countObservation

Truth observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/truthObservation

Geometry observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/geometryObservation

Temporal observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/temporalObservation

Complex observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/complexObservation

Discrete coverage observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/observation

Point coverage observation

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/observation

Coverage
observation
interchange

14

OMXML Conformance Class

Temporal coverage observation interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/observation

Sampling feature interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/sampling

Spatial sampling feature interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/spatialSampling

Sampling point interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingPoint

Sampling curve interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingCurve

Sampling surface interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingSurface

Sampling solid interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/samplingSolid

Specimen interchange

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/conf/specimen

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

OpenGIS® Encoding Standard

7
7.1

OGC 10-025r1

Requirements for XML instances of Observations and Measurements
Introduction

An Observations and Measurements data document will include one or more of the XML
elements listed in Table 5, or elements declared to be in the substitution group of one or
more of these. The basic requirements for data instances are, therefore, formalized in
terms of these elements. The corresponding conformance tests use document validation
using various combinations of schema documents.
18 requirements classes are described in this clause. Figure 2 provides a graphical
(informative) summary of the dependencies of the requirements classes.
NOTE: ISO 19115, GML and W3C XML Schema are not formally structured with Requirements Classes in the sense
described by The Specification Model — A Standard for Modular specifications (OGC 08-131r3), so the specific
dependencies on these are indicated using clause numbers or internal document anchors instead.

7.2

Virtual typing strategy

Only a single XML element for observations is provided (om:OM_Observation) whose
result is a wildcard (type='xs:anyType'). The specialized observations described in the
conceptual model merely restrict the type of the result, so in the XML implementation
this can be achieved efficiently through a lightweight XML Schema for the generic case,
supplemented by Schematron to test the result type. An (optional) 'type' sub-element
allows a data instance to be associated with a class in the conceptual model. Note that
addition of a suitable xsi:type attribute on the result element would enable XML Schemabased validation strategies to be applied, but this tactic is optional. Schematron-based
validation does not require it.
Similarly, only a single XML element for spatial sampling features is provided
(sams:SF_SpatialSamplingFeature) whose shape property contains a wildcard
(gml:AbstractGeometry). The specialized spatial sampling features described in the
conceptual model merely restrict the type of the shape, so in the XML implementation
this can be achieved efficiently through a lightweight XML Schema for the generic case,
supplemented by Schematron to test the shape. An (optional) 'type' sub-element allows a
data instance to be associated with a class in the conceptual model. Note that addition of a
suitable xsi:type attribute on the shape element would enable XML Schema-based
validation strategies to be applied, but this tactic is optional. Schematron-based validation
does not require it.

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

15

OGC 10-025r1

obj ect Requirements

iso:19139:clause:6

GML/3.2/clause/2.4

req/observ ation
+
+

observation-valid
result-type-consistent
req/sampling
req/measurement
+

sampling-valid

result-measure

req/categoryObserv ation
+

+

GML/3.2/clause/8.2

GML/3.2/clause/7.2

req/specimen
+

result-category

req/spatialSampling

specimen-valid

+
+

shape-type-consistent
spatialSampling-valid

xmlschema-2/#integer
req/countObserv ation
+

result-integer
req/samplingPoint

req/truthObserv ation
+

+

xmlschema-2/#boolean

shape-point

result-boolean
req/samplingCurv e

req/geometryObserv ation
+

GML/3.2/clause/10

+

shape-curve

result-geometry
req/samplingSurface

req/temporalObserv ation
+

SWE/2.0/req/record-components

shape-surface

req/samplingSolid
+

result-record

req/SWEScalarObserv ation
+

+

result-temporal

req/complexObserv ation
+

GML/3.2/clause/14

shape-solid

SWE/2.0/req/simple-components

Legend

result-SWEScalar

OMXML
GML 3.2
req/SWEArrayObserv ation
+

result-SWEBlock

SWE/2.0/req/block-components

ISO Metadata
XML Schema datatypes
SWE Common 2.0

req/SpatialObserv ation
+
+
+

spatial-paramater-value
spatial-parameter
spatial-parameter-name

Figure 2. (informative) Dependencies of OMXML requirements classes. Note that
req/observation has no external dependencies, so is the core requirements class in
OMXML.

16

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

OGC 10-025r1

7.3

Requirements class: Generic observation data

XML representation of observation data requires use of the element om:OM_Observation
or a member of its substitution group.
There is a dependency on the requirements classes for GML documents, defined in
Clause 2.4 of OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2.
There is a dependency on the requirements class for Geographic Metadata XML
encoding, described in Clause 6 of Geographic information – metadata – XML
implementation.
Requirements Class

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/observation
Target type

Data instance

Dependency

http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/GML/3.2#clause-2.4

Dependency

urn:iso:ts:iso:19139:clause:6

Requirement

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/observation/observationvalid

Any XML element in the substitution group of om:OM_Observation
SHALL be well-formed and valid
Requirement

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/observation/result-typeconsistent

The content model of any om:result element SHALL be consistent with
the value of the xlink:href attribute of the om:type element if one is
present as a sub-element of the parent om:OM_Observation, according to
the mapping given in Table 5.
This is the core requirements class for all XML instances of Observations and
Measurements.
7.4

Requirements class: Measurement data

XML representation of measurement data requires that it satisfies the core requirements
class for observation data, and adds the requirement that the observation result is a scaled
number.
There is a dependency on the requirements class for GML schema, Basic Types,
described in Clause 8.2 of OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2.

Copyright © 2011 Open Geospatial Consortium.

17

OGC 10-025r1

Requirements Class

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/measurement
Target type

Data instance

Dependency

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/observation

Dependency

http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/GML/3.2#clause-8.2

Requirement

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/measurement/result-measure

The XML element om:result SHALL have a value that matches the
content model defined by gml:MeasureType.
7.5

Requirements class: Category observation data

XML representation of category observation data requires that it satisfies the core
requirements class for observation data, and adds the requirement that the observation
result selects an item from a controlled vocabulary or ontology.
There is a dependency on the requirements class for GML Base Schema Components,
described in Clause 7.2 of OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2.
Requirements Class

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/categoryObservation
Target type

Data instance

Dependency

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/observation

Dependency

http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/GML/3.2#clause-7.2

Requirement

http://www.opengis.net/spec/OMXML/2.0/req/categoryObservation/resultcategory

The XML element om:result SHALL have a value that matches the
content model defined by gml:Re