material sample ID
type: Property
comment: An identifier for the MaterialSample (as opposed to a particular digital record of the material sample). In the absence of a persistent global unique identifier, construct one from a combination of identifiers in the record that will most closely make the materialSampleID globally unique.
example: IGSN:ASR000001 (Resulting URI: http://igsn.org/ASR000001) is a globally unique and persistent identifier of a soil sample.

Duration
type: Class
status: statusStable
definition: Duration of a temporal extent expressed as a number scaled by a temporal unit

Instant
type: Class
status: statusStable
definition: A temporal entity with zero extent or duration.

Interval
type: Class
status: statusStable
definition: A temporal entity with an extent or duration.

Association
type: Class
status: statusStable
definition: An activity association is an assignment of responsibility to an agent for an activity, indicating that the agent had a role in the activity. It further allows for a plan to be specified, which is the plan intended by the agent to achieve some goals in the context of this activity.
scope note: Associate an agent to an activity (`tern:Sampling`, `tern:Observation`) with a role from link:http://def.isotc211.org/iso19115/-1/2018/CitationAndResponsiblePartyInformation/code/CI_RoleCode[ISO 19115-1's CI Role Code].

Attribution
type: Class
status: statusStable
definition: Attribution is the ascribing of an entity to an agent. When an entity `e` is attributed to agent `ag`, entity `e` was generated by some unspecified activity that in turn was associated to agent `ag`. Thus, this relation is useful when the activity is not known, or irrelevant.
scope note: Associate an agent to an entity (`tern:Sample`, `tern:FeatureOfInterest`, `tern:Site`) with a role from link:http://def.isotc211.org/iso19115/-1/2018/CitationAndResponsiblePartyInformation/code/CI_RoleCode[ISO 19115-1's CI Role Code].

TERN Ontology
type: Ontology
provenance: A domain model for exchanging and representing ecological field survey data. A profile of SSN/SOSA, PROV and schema.org.
imports: dash
imports: qudt
imports: void
imports: owl#
imports: core#
imports: time#
imports: dcat#
imports: prov#
imports: sosa
imports: ssn
imports: ssn-ext.ttl
version IRI: https://w3id.org/tern/ontologies/tern/0.8.0
version info: 0.8.0
definition: The TERN Ontology comprises a set of vocabularies for representing plot-based ecological data. It was developed primarily based on the SOSA (Sensor, Observation, Sample, and Actuator) ontology. The TERN Ontology's classes and properties have been tailored to describe terrestrial ecology survey data including flora, vegetation and soil, following the methodologies outlined in the Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook.
code repository: https://github.com/ternaustralia/ontology_tern
contributor: Habacuc Flores-Moreno
contributor: Tina Parkhurst
contributor: Anusuriya Devaraju
copyright holder: TERN
creator: Simon Cox
creator: Siddeswara Guru
creator: Edmond Chuc
date created: 2020-09-07
date issued: 2020-09-07
date modified: 2022-04-26
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
publisher: TERN

Boolean
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: Class to encapsulate a true-or-false value.

Categorical Value
type: Class
subclass of: Concept

CosmOz Station
type: Class
subclass of: Fixed Platform
definition: CosmOz is the Australian Cosmic-Ray Neutron Soil Moisture Monitoring Network Beginning in October 2010, CSIRO Land and Water installed cosmic-ray probes at a number of locations around Australia to form the inaugural CosmOz network. These sites were established at instrumented research sites operated by CSIRO and University collaborators to test and validate the operation of this new technology. These novel probes use cosmic rays originating from outer space to measure average soil moisture over an area of about 30 hectares to depths in the soil of between 10 to 50 cm. This constitutes a quantum leap over conventional on-ground soil moisture sensing technology that can only measure soil moisture content within small volumes of soil. Each system is comprised of a data logger, neutron detector, satellite telemetry, tipping bucket rain gauge, temperature humidity and pressure sensors and three surface moisture (TDR) probes. The system requires minimal maintenance and is powered by a solar charging system. The entire system is installed on a single mast. Data is logged and transmitted every 60 minutes to the CosmOz database.
editorial note: Currently used by the platforms index for SHaRED.

Dataset
type: Class
subclass of: Dataset
definition: A collection of data, published or curated by a single agent, and available for access or download in one or more representations.
scope note: This class describes the actual dataset as published by the dataset provider. In cases where a distinction between the actual dataset and its entry in the catalog is necessary (because metadata such as modification date might differ), the catalog record class can be used for the latter.
scope note: This class describes the conceptual dataset. One or more representations might be available, with differing schematic layouts and formats or serializations.

Date
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A class to encapsulate an `xsd:date` value.

Date time
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A class to encapsulate an `xsd:dateTime` value.

Deployment
type: Class
status: statusExperimental
subclass of: Deployment
definition: Describes the Deployment of one or more Systems for a particular purpose. Deployment may be done on a Platform.
example: For example, a temperature Sensor deployed on a wall, or a whole network of Sensors deployed for an Observation campaign.

Digital Camera
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  min cardinality: 1
  on property: model
subclass of: Restriction
  min cardinality: 1
  on property: prefLabel
subclass of: Restriction
  min qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: string
  on property: source
subclass of: Restriction
  min qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: string
  on property: manufacturer
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: altLabel
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: definition
subclass of: Concept
definition: The model as defined by the manufacturer.
example: E.g. EOS 350D

Dimension
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: length
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: width
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: Unit
  on property: unit
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Class
    union of: double
    union of: integer
  on property: length
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Class
    union of: double
    union of: integer
  on property: width
deprecated: true
definition: The dimension of a 2D square or rectangular feature. Example, the dimension of a rectangular plot Site. This class should perhaps have specialised classes to express not just square or rectangular features but also others such as circular features.

Distribution
type: Class
subclass of: Distribution
definition: A specific representation of a dataset. A dataset might be available in multiple serializations that may differ in various ways, including natural language, media-type or format, schematic organization, temporal and spatial resolution, level of detail or profiles (which might specify any or all of the above).
example: Examples of distributions include a CSV file, a [netCDF] file, a JSON document, or a data-cube, files made accessible according to different profiles, such as XML or JSON schemas or [ShEx] or [SHACL] expressions. In some cases all distributions of a dataset will be fully informationally equivalent, in the sense that lossless transformations between the representations are possible. An example would be different serializations of an RDF graph using RDF/XML [RDF-SYNTAX-GRAMMAR], [Turtle], [N3], [JSON-LD]. However, in other cases the distributions might have different levels of fidelity to the underlying data. For example, a graphical representation about the data on a CSV file may not contain the same total information recorded in the CSV file, but they could be considered as two distributions for the same dataset as they are about the same data. As a counter-example, budget data for different years would usually be modelled as different datasets, each with their own distributions, since all distributions of one dataset should broadly contain the same data. Nevertheless, the question of whether different representations can be understood to be distributions of the same dataset, or distributions of different datasets, is application specific. Judgement about how to describe them is the responsibility of the provider, taking into account their understanding of the expectations of users, and practices in the relevant community.
scope note: This represents a general availability of a dataset. It implies no information about the actual access method of the data, i.e. whether by direct download, API, or through a Web page. The use of dcat:downloadURL property indicates directly downloadable distributions.

Earth Observation Satellite
type: Class
subclass of: Mobile Platform
definition: Earth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed to observe Earth from orbit, similar to spy satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_observation_satellite Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: Earth Observation Satellites Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites Short_Name: Earth Observation Satellites End_Group End_Group

Ecosystem Processes Site
type: Class
subclass of: Site
definition: An ecological Site that usually hosts a Flux Tower.

Float
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A class to encapsulate a float.

Flux Tower
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: description
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: comment
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: date
  on property: date decommissioned
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: string
  on property: fluxnet ID
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: Site
  on property: isHostedBy
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on data range: string
  on property: purpose
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: Point
  on property: centroid point
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: date
  on property: date commissioned
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: string
  on property: label
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Fixed Platform
definition: Across the globe, towers stand among the landscape, with sensors monitoring these eddies for carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gasses. These so-called flux towers collect data on carbon dioxide exchange rates between the earth and atmosphere.
example: Alice Springs Mulga flux tower

IRI
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A class to encapsulate an IRI value.

Integer
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A class to encapsulate an integer value.

Intervention
type: Class
status: statusExperimental
subclass of: Activity
definition: An `Intervention` is a human-induced activity that carries out a `Procedure` to observe or change the properties of a `Feature Of Interest`.
example: Controlled burns, breeding programs, weed and debris removal, installation of new structures, etc.
scope note: An intervention is a management process to maintain, restore or improve an ecosystem within a spatial area.

Feature which is managed for TERN purposes
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: date
  on property: date commissioned
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: date
  on property: date decommissioned
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: date commissioned
subclass of: Restriction
  max cardinality: 1
  on property: date decommissioned

Material sample
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: MaterialSample
subclass of: Sample
definition: A physical result of a sampling (or subsampling) event. In biological collections, the material sample is typically collected, and either preserved or destructively processed.
example: A whole organism preserved in a collection. A part of an organism isolated for some purpose. A soil sample. A marine microbial sample.

Observable Property
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Concept
  on property: local value
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Parameter
  on property: value
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Class
    union of: ConceptScheme
    union of: Collection
    union of: Ontology
  on property: local vocabulary
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: value
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: vocabulary
subclass of: Restriction
  max cardinality: 1
  on property: local value
subclass of: Restriction
  max cardinality: 1
  on property: local vocabulary
subclass of: ObservableProperty
definition: An observable quality (property, characteristic) of a [FeatureOfInterest](http://w3.org/ns/sosa/FeatureOfInterest). A feature-of-interest refers to a feature whose properties are measured or observed.
example: Sampling depth, bulk density, pH are examples of properties of a soil sample, and the soil sample is the feature-of-interest, representative of the area from which it is collected.

Observation collection
type: Class
status: statusExperimental
subclass of: ObservationCollection
definition: Collection of one or more observations, whose members share a common value for one or more property

Procedure
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: vocabulary
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: Input
  on property: hasInput
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: Method
  on property: value
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Concept
  on property: method type
subclass of: Procedure
definition: A workflow, protocol, plan, algorithm, or computational method specifying how to make an Observation, create a Sample, or make a change to the state of the world (via an [Actuator](http://w3.org/ns/sosa/Actuator). A Procedure is re-usable, and might be involved in many Observation, Sampling, or [Actuations](http://w3.org/ns/sosa/Actuation). it explains the steps to be carried out to arrive at a reproducible Result.
example: The procedure for collecting photopoints are specified in the [AusPlots Rangelands Survey Protocols Manual](http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4287.3607). The DEC Nature Conservation Service Biodiversity have defined [standard procedures](https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/monitoring/sop/sop_establishingvegetationquadrats_20090818_v1.0.pdf) for establishing quadrats for vegetation sampling.
scope note: Input can be used to capture any input values for a procedure, such as the input value of the basal wedge to estimate the basal area per hectare.

RDFDataset
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Dataset
subclass of: Resource
definition: A set of RDF triples that are published, maintained or aggregated by a single provider.
scope note: This is a specialised version of the `void:Dataset` class where it may be constrained by additional property shapes in the future.

Sampler
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Sampler
subclass of: System
definition: A device that is used by, or implements, a (`Sampling`) `Procedure` to create or transform one or more samples.
scope note: A ball mill, diamond drill, hammer, hypodermic syringe and needle, image Sensor or a soil auger can all act as sampling devices (i.e., be Samplers). However, sometimes the distinction between the Sampler and the Sensor is not evident, as they are packaged as a unit. A Sampler need not be a physical device.

Sensor
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Sensor
subclass of: System
definition: Device, agent (including humans), or software (simulation) involved in, or implementing, a Procedure. Sensors respond to a stimulus, e.g., a change in the environment, or input data composed from the results of prior Observations, and generate a Result. Sensors can be hosted by Platforms.

Taxon
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: A group of organisms (sensu http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/OBI_0100026) considered by taxonomists to form a homogeneous unit.
scope note: The genus Truncorotaloides as published by Bronnimann et al. in 1953 in the Journal of Paleontology Vol. 27(6) p. 817-820.

Text
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Value
definition: Class to encapsulate a textual value.

Transect
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Sample
definition: A transect is a path where observations and samplings may occur.
scope note: There are several types of transects in ecology such as strip transects, line transects, belt transects, point transects and curved line transects.

area
type: Property
definition: The extent of a Site area, e.g., in m2
example: The area of the Mitchell Grass Rangeland SuperSite Supersite is approximately 47 M (million) ha.

attribute
type: Property
range: Concept
definition: Point to a concept representing the attribute.

cardinal direction
type: Property
range: string
definition: The cardinal direction of the *thing* represented as a string and expressed by cardinal and intercardinal points.
example: NNE, W, SE, etc.

dimension
type: Property
definition: Dimension in metres.
example: 100x100

domain
type: Property
definition: The domain of the observation.
example: Vegetation, soil, disturbance, landform, etc.

feature type
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Feature of Interest
range: Concept
definition: The feature type of a [Feature of Interest](#FeatureofInterest).

global value
type: Property
definition: A property that links a concept from a vocabulary to another concept in an authoritative/endorsed vocabulary.
example: The concept dry soil colour is defined in two vocabularies, [CORVEG](http://linked.data.gov.au/def/corveg-cv/1842b772-72a4-430f-a264-dcfd6c2c23b4) and [Ausplots](http://linked.data.gov.au/def/ausplots-cv/aa11e5f7-aec2-4e92-95b8-6332911f0c4e). The property global value is used to map the concept from the two vocabularies to the relevant [concept](http://linked.data.gov.au/def/tern-cv/beceaa5a-a296-4385-a55a-3b8c8d5b2369) specified in the main vocabulary, i.e., TERN Vocabularies.

global vocabulary
type: Property
definition: The global vocabulary refers to the main vocabulary, which takes precedence over other similar vocabularies to promote data harmonisation.

has environmental characteristic
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The subject has some environmental characteristic. Points to a set of Observations within an EnvironmentalCharacteristic.

has feature type
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: relatedMatch
definition: Links a concept to a feature type.

has observation
type: ObjectProperty
range: Observation
definition: Link to an Observation.

has observation theme
type: Property
sub property of: relatedMatch
definition: Link a concept to an observation theme.

has sampling
type: ObjectProperty
range: Sampling
definition: Link to a Sampling instance.

has simple value
type: Property
definition: The direct link to the value either as an IRI or an RDF literal. The simple value is always equivalent to the value captured in [rdf:value](http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#value) of the tern:Value instance.
example: An IRI, true, false, 1, "string", or a "string with language"@en, etc.

has site visit
type: ObjectProperty
range: Site Visit
definition: A property that links, e.g., a Site to a [Site Visit](#EcologicalSiteVisit).

has sub activity
type: Property
definition: Link to an Observation or Sampling.

has value
type: ObjectProperty
range: Value
definition: A link to a [tern:Value](https://w3id.org/tern/ontologies/tern/Value) which encapulates the value of this thing.

instrument type
type: ObjectProperty
range: Concept
definition: The type of instrument used.

intervention type
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The type of intervention act.

is site of
type: ObjectProperty
inverse of: has site

is sub activity of
type: Property
definition: A property that links an activity to its parent activity.

location description
type: Property
definition: The description of the location.
example: Location description of the AusPlots site NTABRT0004 in the Alice Mulga SuperSite: Pine Hill Station. 25km South East of Ti-Tree. 20km East of Stuart Highway. South west corner of the site is 200m north west of proposed supersite flux tower

location procedure
type: Property
sub property of: has method
definition: Link to a procedure used to obtain the location.

observation type
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The type of observation.
example: human observation, machine observation.

result date time
type: DatatypeProperty
definition: The result time is the instant of time when the Observation, Actuation or Sampling activity was completed.
note: A change request has been submitted to SOSA at https://github.com/w3c/sdw/issues/1338. Once the change request is submitted, this property `tern:resultDateTime` should be deprecated in favour of `sosa:resultTime`.
note: At the time of writing (2022-03-02), SOSA specifies `sosa:resultTime` with an `rdfs:range` of `xsd:dateTime`. This means that all values of `sosa:resultTime` must have the datatype `xsd:dateTime`. This is problematic for the BDR because most ecological surveys only have a precision of day and not date time. Ingestion of data may fail due to internal validators from TopQuadrant's EDG.

sample storage location
type: Property
sub property of: hasGeometry
definition: A property that links a [PhysicalSpecimen](#PhysicalSpecimen) to the location [Point](http://www.opengis.net/ont/sf#Point) of where it is stored.

sampling type
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The type of sampling act.

short name
type: AnnotationProperty

site description
type: Property
definition: Contextual information is collected at each site. This includes measures of slope an aspect, surface strew and lithology, and information on the grazing and fire history of the site (Credit: TERN AusPlots).
example: alicesprings description.html
scope note: Value is usually a summary sentence of the site.

soil classification
type: Property
definition: The term used to classify the SoilProfile.

soil horizon classifier
type: Property
definition: Soil horizon classifier as defined in the Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook on page 148.

stratum
type: Property
sub property of: type
definition: A stratum is a distinct, easily seen, layer of foliage and branches of a measurable height.
scope note: Value should be from a controlled vocabulary identified by a URI.

sw point
type: Property
sub property of: hasGeometry
deprecated: true
definition: The south-west point of the subject.

system type
type: ObjectProperty
range: Concept
definition: The type of system. Values are from some controlled vocabulary.

taxon
type: Property
definition: Taxon classification.
scope note: Value should be from a controlled vocabulary identified by a URI.

transect direction
type: Property
range: string
definition: Describes the direction of the transect.
example: S-W

transect end point
type: Property
definition: Refers to the [sf:Point](http://www.opengis.net/ont/sf#Point) representing the end of a transect.

transect start point
type: Property
definition: Refers to the [sf:Point](http://www.opengis.net/ont/sf#Point) representing the start of a transect.

uncertainty
type: DatatypeProperty
range: double
definition: Uncertainty for a quantitative value.
scope note: measurement = (best estimate ± uncertainty) units

value type
type: Property
definition: Relates a Property to a specialisation of tern:Value.
example: Use it to describe an instance of sosa:ObservableProperty and its recommended tern:Value type such as tern:QuantitativeMeasure, tern:Boolean, etc.

CSIRO
type: Organization

Simon Cox
type: Person
affiliation: CSIRO

Siddeswara Guru
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Edmond Chuc
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Habacuc Flores-Moreno
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Tina Parkhurst
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Anusuriya Devaraju
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Input
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: description
subclass of: Restriction
  cardinality: 1
  on property: value
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: string
  on property: label
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Input
definition: *Input* - Any information that is provided to a Procedure for its use.
example: A **wedge prism** or **relascope** can be used to estimate the Basal Area per hectare. The number of counted trees and the Basal Area Factor are inputs to estimate the Basal Area.

Method
type: Class
scope note: We recommend representing the method information following [ISO 9001 Processes, Procedures and Work Instructions](https://3yn1j14c4twk1bmdg82226en-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/iso-9001-procedure.pdf)
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: timeRequired
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: string
  on property: note
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Collection
  on property: has categorical collection
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Concept
  on property: has parameter
subclass of: Restriction
  all values from: Class
    union of: string
    union of: anyURI
  on property: source
subclass of: Restriction
  max cardinality: 1
  on property: timeRequired
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: Seq
  on property: instructions
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: string
  on property: definition
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on class: Concept
  on property: equipment
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on data range: string
  on property: purpose
subclass of: Restriction
  max qualified cardinality: 1
  on data range: string
  on property: scope
subclass of: Restriction
  on class: string
  on property: prefLabel
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Concept
definition: A Method describes in detailed steps how a workflow, protocol, plan or algorithm is carried out to make an Observation or a Sample. It explains the steps to be carried out to arrive at reproducible Result.
example: Borehole logging is a field method in which in situ physical measurements (e.g., temperature) are made down the length of a borehole by lowering measurement instruments down the borehole via cable. (Credit: PaST Thesaurus)

Mobile Platform
type: Class
subclass of: Platform
definition: A moving mobile platform on land, in water or in space.

Observation
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Activity
subclass of: Observation
definition: Act of carrying out an (`Observation`) `Procedure` to estimate or calculate a value of a property of a `FeatureOfInterest`. Links to a `Sensor` to describe what made the `Observation` and how; links to an `ObservableProperty` to describe what the result is an estimate of, and to a `FeatureOfInterest` to detail what that property was associated with.
example: The activity of measuring properties such as wind speed and direction by an anemometer sensor. The results of the observation are the measurement values of the properties estimated by the sensor.

Parameter
type: Class
subclass of: Concept
definition: A [FeatureOfInterest's](http://w3.org/ns/sosa/FeatureOfInterest) property or characteristic which an Observation is measuring using some Procedure.

Result
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Result
definition: The result of an `Observation`, `Actuation`, or act of `Sampling`. To store an observation's simple result value one can use the `hasSimpleResult` property.
example: The value 20 as the height of a certain tree together with the unit, e.g., Meter.

Sampling
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Activity
subclass of: Sampling
definition: An activity of `Sampling` carries out a (`Sampling`) `Procedure` to create or transform one or more `Samples`.
scope note: Crushing a rock sample in a ball mill to create sub-samples of the rock. Digging a pit through a soil sequence. Dividing a field site into quadrants. Drawing blood from a patient. Drilling an observation well. Establishing a station for environmental monitoring. Registering an image of the landscape. Sieving a powder to separate the subset finer than 100-mesh. Selecting a subset of a population. Splitting a piece of drill-core to create two new samples. Taking a diamond-drill core from a rock outcrop.

Site Visit
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Survey
definition: A Site Visit is a `Survey` that visits a `Site`.

Survey
type: Class
status: statusExperimental
subclass of: Activity
definition: A Survey is an `Activity` during which `Sampling` or `Observation` Activities occur.

centroid point
type: Property
sub property of: hasGeometry
deprecated: true
definition: The centroid point of an object-of-interest.
example: The geometric center of 1-ha vegetation plot expressed as [sf:Point](http://www.opengis.net/ont/sf#Point).

equipment
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Describe the equipment used as text.

fluxnet ID
type: Property
definition: The unique identifier for flux towers registered with FLUXNET.
example: AU-ASM

global match
type: Property
sub property of: exactMatch
inverse of: is global match of
definition: Link a concept to an upper concept (in the closed system).
scope note: Use in between controlled vocabularies.

has attribute
type: ObjectProperty
range: Attribute
sub property of: hasProperty
inverse of: is attribute of
definition: Link to an Attribute.

has categorical collection
type: Property
definition: A property that links a concept to a collection containing its categorical values.

has method
type: Property
sub property of: relatedMatch
definition: A property that links a concept to a method.

has parameter
type: Property
sub property of: relatedMatch
definition: A property that links a concept to a parameter.

has sampling point
type: Property
inverse of: is sampling point of
definition: A property that links, e.g., a Sampling to a SamplingPoint.

has site
type: ObjectProperty
range: Site
definition: A property that links, e.g., a Site Visit to a Site.

instructions
type: ObjectProperty
definition: Describe the instructions of the procedure/method.

is attribute of
type: ObjectProperty
domain: Attribute
inverse of: has attribute
definition: Link from an [Attribute](https://w3id.org/tern/ontologies/tern/Attribute) to some individual.

is global match of
type: Property
sub property of: exactMatch
inverse of: global match
definition: An inverse property of [globalMatch](#globalMatch); Links an upper concept to a concept (in the closed system).
scope note: Use in between controlled vocabularies.

is sampling point of
type: Property
inverse of: has sampling point
definition: The inverse property [hasSamplingPoint](#hasSamplingPoint).

is site visit of
type: ObjectProperty

method type
type: Property
definition: A particular method type used to conduct some survey.

scope
type: DatatypeProperty
range: string
definition: Describe the scope of something.

unit
type: ObjectProperty
definition: The unit of measure of the value. Use [QUDT units of measure vocabulary](http://qudt.org/vocab/unit/).

Javier Sanchez Gonalez
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Mosheh Eliyahu
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Junrong Yu
type: Person
affiliation: TERN

Attribute
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Property
definition: A property-value pair to capture attributes of an individual where observations are not suitable.
scope note: Follows a similar modelling pattern to link:https://schema.org/PropertyValue[`schema:PropertyValue`].

Feature of Interest
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: FeatureOfInterest
definition: The thing whose property is being estimated or calculated in the course of an Observation to arrive at a Result or whose property is being manipulated by an Actuator, or which is being sampled or transformed in an act of Sampling.
example: When measuring the height of a tree, the height is the observed ObservableProperty, 20m may be the Result of the Observation, and the tree is the FeatureOfInterest. A window is a FeatureOfInterest for an automatic window control Actuator.

Fixed Platform
type: Class
subclass of: Platform
definition: A fixed platform based on land.

System
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: System
definition: System is a unit of abstraction for pieces of infrastructure that implement Procedures. A System may have components, its subsystems, which are other Systems.

length
type: Property
definition: A measure of distance.

local value
type: Property

local vocabulary
type: Property
range: Class
  union of: ConceptScheme
  union of: Collection
  union of: Ontology

purpose
type: DatatypeProperty
range: string
definition: Describe the purpose of something.

vocabulary
type: ObjectProperty
range: Class
  union of: ConceptScheme
  union of: Collection
  union of: Ontology
definition: Controlled vocabulary, taxonomy etc.

width
type: Property
definition: The measurement or extent of something from side to side.

TERN
type: Organization

Platform
type: Class
subclass of: Platform
definition: An entity that hosts other entities, particularly Sensors, Samplers, and other Platforms.
example: Ocean buoy is an example of platform that is equipped with an array of sensors such as GPS, current meters, atmospheric sensors and water quality monitors. Sensors measuring weather variables are attached to a weather station (a platform)

Sample
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Sample
subclass of: Feature of Interest
subclass of: Result
definition: A feature which is intended to be representative of a `FeatureOfInterest` on which `Observations` may be made.
scope note: A sample may be a physical sample or a sub-divided section of some larger feature of interest. For example, land surface, plant population, ground cover are all common sub-samples of a site (feature of interest) in ecological surveys.

Site
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Platform
subclass of: Sample
definition: An ecological monitoring site where observations and samplings occur. This `Site` class is a subclass of `Sample` since ecological sites are designed to be representative of an environmental system (which may be an ecosystem or bioregion) or zone (which may be a zone such as a parcel or tract).
scope note: Ausplots Rangelands Site 59858 (Site Name: WAACOO0011)

date commissioned
type: Property
definition: The date when, e.g., a Site is ready to commence its operations, after it is successfully installed and tested.
example: 1 August 2017 is the date commisioned of the [Collie flux station](http://ozflux.org.au/monitoringsites/collie/index.html)
scope note: Use ISO 8601 international standard for representing dates and times. Missing start date may be set to the first of the month.

date decommissioned
type: Property
definition: The date when, e.g., a Site is decommissioned or stopped operating.
example: 30 Nov 2019 is the date decommisioned of the [Collie flux station](http://ozflux.org.au/monitoringsites/collie/index.html)
scope note: Use ISO 8601 international standard for representing dates and times. Missing end date may be set to the end of the month.

Value
type: Class
status: statusStable
subclass of: Resource
definition: A value of an `Attribute` or an `Observation`.
scope note: This is an 'abstract' class and is not intended to be used directly to create individuals.

TERN
type: Organization