Sprecher
Beschreibung
Time series observations from sensors and monitoring infrastructures are increasingly published via the OGC SensorThings API (STA), providing large infrastructures such as the Earth & Environment DataHub with a standardized and interoperable interface for accessing environmental data. While STA enables uniform access to distributed services, users are still required to possess domain-specific knowledge to locate relevant data endpoints, interfaces and APIs, construct tailored queries, and interpret response structures.
We present a service that allows you to download selected STA time series as a FAIR digital object. In accordance with the WorldFAIR Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework recommendations, we designed the downloaded data package as a self-contained RO-Crate. Each package contains a structured folder layout with one file per time series in a specified format, such as CSV. A top-level metadata file accompanies the package. This file links the dataset to its origin and includes a description using available STA metadata. It also contains contextual information linking the folder contents to the metadata. Additionally, the download service uses the STAMPLATE metadata schema to enrich the RO-Crate metadata with information such as provenance, licensing, and device setup details. To improve citability and interoperability with research data repositories such as Dataverse repositories (e.g., Jülich Data) or PANGAEA, a DataCite-compliant description of the dataset is also added.
By offering STA data in widely used, long-established formats such as CSV, scientists can use the data without altering their analysis workflows. The RO-Crate structure provides the necessary metadata for research in a transparent and organized way. Its linked-data format transforms the resulting package into a portable, semantically sound research object that supports automated processing and interpretation. Thus, our STA download service connects established scientific workflows with advanced digital ecosystems, promoting the advancement of environmental research towards FAIRness.
| Alternative Track | 8. Semantics in Practice: Domain & Application Ontologies |
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