WaterML 2.0 SWG

WaterML 2.0 Standards Working Group
WaterML 2.0 is a candidate Open Geospatial Consortium encoding standard for the representation of in-situ hydrological observations data. WaterML 2.0 is implemented as an application schema of the Geography Markup Language version 3.2.1 and makes use of the OGC Observations and Measurements (O&M) standard and the OMXML GML Application Schema.
OGC WaterML 2.0 will support encoding of hydrological and hydrogeological observation data in a variety of exchange scenarios. Example areas of usage are: exchange of data for operational monitoring and forecasting programs; supporting operation of infrastructure (e.g. dams, supply systems); exchange of observational and forecast data for surface water and groundwater; release of data for public dissemination; enhancing disaster management through data exchange; and exchange in support of national reporting.
A core aspect of OGC WaterML2.0 is the description of time series. Interpretation of time series data relies on understanding the nature of the process that generated them. OGC WaterML2.0 provides the framework under which time series data can be exchanged with appropriate metadata to allow correct machine interpretation and thus correct use for further analysis. Existing systems will be able to use this model as a conceptual bridge between existing schema or systems, allowing consistency of the data to be maintained.
The goal of WaterML 2.0, as outlined in “WaterML2.0: An O&M profile for water observations data” [OGC 10-126], is to provide an extensible schema derived from the OGC Standards Baseline to enable a higher level of interoperability for hydrologic time series data as required by potential adopters, including public water agencies, other organisations and universities.
NOTE: Earlier versions of WaterML (CUAHSI WaterML 1.0 and 1.1) have been implemented by many organizations, but were developed external to OGC and are not consistent with the OGC Standards Baseline.
 
 
Purpose of this Standards Working Group
The purpose of this Standards Working Group is to progress the candidate WaterML 2.0 standard (OGC 10-126r1) to the state of an adopted OGC Standard. This goal will be achieved by processing comments received during a public comment period and ensuring that the standard is consistent with the OGC Standards Baseline and Business Plan.
Scope of Work
This SWG is focused on the WaterML 2.0 candidate standard submission (OGC 10-126r1), coordinating a public comment period, and processing any comments received during this period. The final deliverable of the SWG will be a version of the candidate standard for consideration by the OGC membership for approval as an OGC standard.
What is out of scope?
While OGC standard services, such as SOS, are the preferred mechanism for exchanging information, WaterML 2.0 does not specify a specific transport mechanism or service interface. Interoperability experiments led by members of the HDWG are exploring data exchange using OGC services.
This SWG will not address harmonizing or defining vocabularies sets, such as observable properties, for use with WaterML2.0. The standard will define a number of URIs that will be used to convey the nature and state of observations, such as quality codes and data types with the aim of enhancing interoperability.
This SWG will focus only on processing comments received during the 30 day public comment period. Separately submitted Change Requests are out of scope, and will only be considered at the discretion of the SWG.
Specific Contribution of Existing Work as a Starting Point
The starting point for the work will be the draft WaterML 2.0 submission (OGC 10-126r1). This will be sent out for public comment following any edits required to meet candidate standard requirements.
How it is to be Determined when the Work of the SWG has been Completed?
The work of the SWG will be complete when:

• All comments submitted during the 30 day public comment period have been dealt with to the satisfaction of the SWG.
• The SWG approves the WaterML 2.0 Candidate Standard and ATS document, for submission to the TC for approval as an adopted standard.
• The candidate standard has been approved by the OGC Technical and Planning Committees as an Adopted OGC standard.

Description of deliverables
The following deliverables will result from the work of this SWG:

• An annotated list of all comments submitted during the 30 day public comment period, including the comment, submitter, rationale, comment type/priority, and the response of the SWG.
• A final version of the WaterML 2.0 Standard and ATS documents for submission to the TC.

In recognition of the amount of effort from a number of groups that has gone into developing WaterML2.0 to its current state, the SWG should conclude its activities no later than Q4 2011. As such the following schedule of activities is planned:

• SWG startup. 2011 March.
• OAB/ONA RFC review; SWG prepares candidate standard for vote for public release. 2011 March
• SWG votes to release WaterML 2.0 for public comment. 2011 April
• OGC staff develops PR and announces availability for public comment. 2011 April
• 30-day public comment period. 2011 April - 2011 May
• SWG collects and collates comments into a single document. 2011 May
• SWG discusses and votes on comments and makes resulting edits towards final WaterML 2.0 candidate standard. 2011 June
• SWG votes to approve release of WaterML 2.0 candidate standard for approval as an OGC adopted standard. 2011 June
• 60 day IPR review period and associated TC e-vote to approve WaterML 2.0 candidate standard as an OGC adopted standard. 2011 July – 2011 August

IPR Policy for this SWG
RAND-Royalty Free.
Anticipated Participants
The target audience/participants of WaterML 2.0 includes: application developers; GIS and hydrologic software vendors; the hydrologic research and education community; international, national and local water-related agencies that set standards for, distribute and use hydrologic and hydrogeologic observation data; and the consumer.
Development of WaterML2.0 to date has been undertaken by the following OGC members:
a) CSIRO
b) San Diego Supercomputer Center
c) Australian Bureau of Meteorology
d) KISTERS AG
e) USGS
f) NOAA
g) Service Centre Information Technology of the BMVBS (DLZ-IT BMVBS)
h) disy Informationssysteme GmbH
i) German Federal Institute of Hydrology
j) Office International de L'eau- Sandre
k) Deltares
 
l) Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada
 
 
It is envisaged that these organization, at least, will participate in the SWG.
Other informative information about the work of this SWG
a. Similar or applicable standards work (OGC and elsewhere).The following standards and projects may be relevant to the SWG's planned work, although none currently provide the functionality or domain focus anticipated by this committee's deliverables:
10-126r1 WaterML2.0: An O&M Profile for Water Observation Data (Draft)
09-124r2 - Harmonising Standards for Water Observation Data - Discussion Paper
OGC Observations and Measurements 2.0, OGC AS Topic 20 (also ISO DIS 19156:2010)
OGC Geography Markup Language v3.2 (also ISO 19136:2007)
OGC Observations and Measurements XML (OMXML) Encoding Standard
The SWG intends to seek and if possible maintain liaison with each of the organizations maintaining the above works.
b. Details of the first meetingThe first meeting of the committee will be held at the February/March 2011 OGC Technical Committee meeting in Bonn, Germany. Call-in information will be provided to the SWG's e-mail list and on the portal calendar in advance of the meeting. The main items of business will be to select (co-)chair(s) for the SWG, and the primary editor for the standard, and agree on a schedule of work, including regular meetings if required. c. Projected on-going meeting schedule
The work of the committee will be carried out primarily by email and conference calls, every other week, with face-to-face meetings at each of the OGC TC meetings. Other face to face meetings may be called if this can expedite the work of the SWG. d. Supporters of the ProposalThe following people support this proposal and are committed to the Charter and projected meeting schedule. These members are known as SWG Founding or Charter members. Once the SWG is officially activated, this group is immediately “opted-into” the SWG and have voting rights from the first day the SWG is officially formed. Extend the table as necessary.

Name

Organization

Peter Taylor

CSIRO

David Lemon

CSIRO

Ilya Zaslavsky

SDSC/CUAHSI

Stefan Fuest

KISTERS

Paul Sheahan

Australian Bureau of Meteorology

John Halquist

NOAA

Simon Jirka

52°North

Boyan Brodaric

Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada

Peter Gijsbers

Deltares

David Briar

USGS

Sven Tschirner

German Federal Institute of Hydrology

 
 
 
Bibliography
 IETF RFC 2616, Hypertext Transfer Protocol – HTTP/1.1. (June 1999)
ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange —Representation of dates and times.
ISO 19101:2002. Geographic information -- Reference model
ISO 19107:2003, Geographic Information — Spatial schema.
ISO 19111:—1), Geographic Information — Spatial referencing by coordinates.
OGC 07-136, OGC Geography Markup Language
OGC 10-004r3, OGC Observations and Measurements v2.0
OGC 00-014r1, Guidelines for Successful OGC Interface Specifications
OGC Document 08-095r5 - Hydrology Domain Working Group Charter, , 26th April 2008 updated 2 OGC Document 07-041r1 WaterML (OGC Discussion Paper)
OGC Document 10-126r1 WaterML2.0: An O&M Profile for Water Observation Data (OGC Implementation Profile)
OGC Document 09-124r2 - Harmonising Standards for Water Observation Data (OGC Discussion Paper)
WMO-168: Guide to Hydrological Practices, Sixth edition, 2008.