Copyright © 2025

TERN-DCAT application profile

The TERN-DCAT Application Profile defines a structured framework for publishing, sharing, and consuming metadata about ecosystem datasets within the earth and environment science domain. [[TERN]] developed the profile to align with Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) V3 [[vocab-dcat-3]] and customise it to meet the specific requirements of [[TERN]] and partnering institute data collection.

The profile builds on DCAT V3 [[vocab-dcat-3]] and incorporates relevant extensions to support the domain-specific metadata standard ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]], such as data quality, distribution, spatial and temporal extent, lineage, licensing document, resources to capture services, and the addition of controlled vocabularies. The profile will improve data discoverability, catalog interoperability, and semantic clarity across national and international platforms.

Context

[[TERN]] is Australia's National Research Infrastructure, which facilitates the collection, collation, and publication of diverse datasets that describe the ecosystem of the Australian continent. The datasets vary from continental-scale remote sensing and model-derived, regional-scale standardised measurements in ecological sites to intensive monitoring in-situ field measurements.

[[TERN]] build and manages data infrastructure to curate and manage all datasets collected by TERN observing platforms and partnering institutes. The TERN-DCAT Application profile has been developed in response to the growing need for semantic-enabled, standardised, machine-readable metadata to support the discovery, access, and reuse of ecosystem data within Australia and globally. The TERN-DCAT Application profile is a tailored implementation of DCAT V3 [[vocab-dcat-3]] to translate TERN's domain-specific metadata standard ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]]. TERN GeoNetwork instance uses the profile to translate ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]] standard metadata to the TERN-DCAT and harvest to the TERN Data Discovery Portal [[TDDP]]. The TERN-DCAT Application Profile drives the TERN Data Discovery Portal [[TDDP]] and facilitates interoperability.

Scope of the Application Profile

The Application Profile specified in this document is based on the specification of the Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) [[vocab-dcat-3]] developed under the responsibility of the Dataset Exchange Working Group (DXWG) at W3C.

The objective of this work is to produce an application profile of DCAT which can represent the totallity of the metadata holded and/or mantained by [[TERN]] and mostly described following the ISO standard ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]] and ISO 19157-2 [[ISO-19157-2]] profiled in [[TERN-ISO]]. Based on the necessity of covering the completeness of the metadata records with real-world examples, the specification is extended with improved definitions, usage notes and usages constraints such as cardinalities for properties and the usage of controlled vocabularies. Additional classes and properties from both [[TERN]] and other well-known vocabularies are re-used where necessary.

The Application Profile is intended to facilitate data exchange between [[TERN]] systems and therefore the classes and properties defined in this document are only relevant for the data to be exchanged; there are no requirements for communicating systems to implement specific technical environments. The only requirement is that the systems can export and import data in RDF in conformance with this Application Profile.

Status

This application profile has the status DRAFT and may be subject to subtle changes.

It has no official standing of any kind and does not represent the support or consensus of any standards organization.

Licence

Copyright © 2025 Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). All material is published under the licence Creative Commons – Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Namespaces

TERN-DCAT makes extensive use of terms from other vocabularies, in particular DCAT [[vocab-dcat-3]], on which is based, and Dublin Core [[DCTERMS]]. TERN-DCAT defines some classes and properties of its own in order to cover some metadata sections from ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]] and ISO 19157 [[ISO-19157-2]] not already addressed by DCAT [[vocab-dcat-3]] or DCAT-AP [[DCAT-AP]].

Prefix Namespace IRI Source
adms http://www.w3.org/ns/adms# [[VOCAB-ADMS]]
cnt http://www.w3.org/2011/content#/code> [[CNT]]
dcat http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat# [[VOCAB-DCAT]]
dcterms http://purl.org/dc/terms/ [[DCTERMS]]
dctype http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/ [[DCTERMS]]
dqv http://www.w3.org/ns/dqv# [[VOCAB-DQV]]
foaf http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/ [[FOAF]]
geodcatap http://data.europa.eu/930/ [[GeoDCAT-AP]]
geosparql (geo) http://www.opengis.net/ont/geosparql# [[GeoSPARQL]]
org https://w3id.org/tern/ontologies/org/ [[TERN-ORG]]
owl http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl# [[OWL2-SYNTAX]]
qudt http://qudt.org/schema/qudt# [[QUDT]]
rdf http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns# [[RDF-SYNTAX-GRAMMAR]]
rdfs http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema# [[RDF-SCHEMA]]
sdo (schema) https://schema.org/ [[SCHEMA-ORG]]
skos http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core# [[SKOS-REFERENCE]]
sosa http://www.w3.org/ns/sosa/ [[SOSA]]
tern https://w3id.org/tern/ontologies/tern/ [[TERN]]
xsd http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema# [[XMLSCHEMA11-2]]

Overview

TERN-DCAT is a DCAT profile for sharing information about Catalogues containing Datasets descriptions holded by [[TERN]]. The core classes of the Application Profile are Catalogue, Dataset and Distribution. TERN-DCAT exclusively defines Catalogues of only Datasets (and Dataset Series), leaving the use of Data Services open to the user following other implementations defined by [[vocab-dcat-3]] or [[DCAT-AP]].

TERN-DCAT uses most of the core properties of the main classes from the DCAT [[vocab-dcat-3]] specification including some additional ones (defined by [[TERN]] or by other specifications as DCAT-AP [[DCAT-AP]]). These additional properties or classes have been added or created in order to best fit the usage of the TERN-DCAT profile, which is the faithful representation of the TERN Metadata Catalogue which follows the ISO 19115 [[ISO-19115-3]] standard profiled as TERN-ISO [[TERN-ISO]].

Application profile diagram

UML model of TERN-DCAT classes and properties
Overview of TERN-DCAT application profile model, showing the classes of resources that can be members of a Catalogue, and the relationships between them. Click to open the high resolution image in a new tab.

Entities

The main entities are those that form the core of the Application Profile. The properties and their associated constraints that apply in the context of this profile are listed in a tabular form.

The following abbreviations are used to indicate in short the difference with DCAT:

Catalogue

Definition
A catalogue or repository that hosts a collection of metadata resources (Dataset or Dataset series).
Reference in DCAT
dcat:Catalog
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
dataset Dataset 0..* A Dataset that is part of the Catalogue. Link A
has part Catalogue 0..* A related Catalogue that is part of the described Catalogue. Link E
homepage Literal 0..1 A web page that acts as the main page for the Catalogue. Link E
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Data Catalogues. This identifier should originate from the Catalogue System being described (e.g., Geonetwork). P
is part of Catalogue 0..* A related Catalogue in which the described Catalogue is physically or logically included. E
language Literal 1..* A language used in the textual metadata describing titles, descriptions, etc. of the Datasets in the Catalogue. This property can be repeated if the metadata is provided in multiple languages. It is recommended to use a Controlled Vocabulary like ISO 639-2 Languages. Link E
notation Literal 0..* A free-text code/notation referencing the Catalogue. This property can be used to provide a code for the Catalogue in addition to the Catalogue identifier. E.g., a notation code to be used by downstream applications using the resource. P
publisher Person | Organisation 1 An entity (person or organisation) responsible for making the Catalogue available. Link E
record Catalogue Record 0..* A Catalogue Record that is part of the Catalogue. Link A
title Literal 1..* A name given to the Catalogue. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the name. Link E

Catalogue Record

Definition
A record in a Catalogue; the description of a Dataset's entry in the Catalogue.
Reference in DCAT
dcat:CatalogRecord
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
character encoding Literal 0..1 Indicates the character encoding of the Catalogue (UTF-8, UTF-16, etc.) P
conforms to Standard 0..1 The metadata profile that the Catalogue Records complies with. TERN-DCAT application profile should be used. P
contact point Person | Organisation 0..* An entity (person or organisation) responsible for managing the Catalogue Record. Link A
creation date Temporal Literal 0..1 The date on which the Catalogue entry was created. P
description Literal 0..* A free-text account of the record. Can be used to define the provenance of the Record when the Catalogue holds metadata from different sources. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the description. Link E
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Catalogue Records. This identifier should originate from the Catalogue System being described (e.g., Geonetwork). P
landing page Literal 0..1 A web page that provides access to the Data Catalogue Record and/or additional information. It is intended to point to a landing page at the original data provider, not to a page on a site of a third party, such as an aggregator. Link A
language Literal 0..* A language used in the textual metadata describing titles, descriptions, etc. of the Catalogue Record. This property can be repeated if the metadata is provided in multiple languages. It is recommended to use a Controlled Vocabulary like ISO 639-2 Languages. Link E
modification date Temporal Literal 0..1 The most recent date on which the Catalogue Record entry was changed or modified. Link E
notation Literal 0..* A free-text code/notation referencing the Catalogue Record. This property can be used to provide a code for the Catalogue Record in addition to the Catalogue identifier. E.g., a notation code to be used by downstream applications using the resource. P
primary topic Dataset | DatasetSeries 1 A link to the Dataset, Dataset Series described in the record. A Catalogue Record will always refer to one entity in a Catalogue. This can be either a Dataset or a Dataset series. Link E
publication date Temporal Literal 0..1 The date on which the Dataset was included in the Catalogue. Link E
source metadata Online Resource 0..1 The original metadata that was used in creating metadata for the Dataset or Dataset Series. P
title Literal 0..* A name given to the Catalogue Record. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the name. Link E

Concept

Definition
A SKOS concept can be viewed as an idea or notion; a unit of thought. However, what constitutes a unit of thought is subjective, and this definition is meant to be suggestive, rather than restrictive.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
concept scheme Concept Scheme 0..1 Relates a Concept to a Concept Scheme in which it is included. P
label Literal 1..* A preferred label of the Concept. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the label. P
source Literal 0..* Link to an external resource from which this Concept belongs to. For non-normative Concepts which do not belong to any proper Scheme, but pertain to some category. Useful to create ad-hoc Concepts from a list of terms, e.g., a list from an ISO metadata standard. P

Context of Concept

Definition
This is a supportive custom-defined RDF class that can be used to capture domain-specific nuances not covered by standard vocabularies, or to model intermediate or contextual entities.
Usage

This class allows to combine a Concept with a domain-specific nueace.

E.g., combine an Ecological Parameter concept (vegetation height) with its Unit of Measurement (metres, centimetres, etc.). In the mentioned example, the same Ecological Parameter may have several distinct UoM depending on the dataset, type of survey, instrument used, etc. i.e., depending on the context. Hence, we can use this class to define a Dataset specific usage of the general concept.

This example serves a very specific use case for TERN; any property that gives any context to the Concept could be used.

Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
concept Concept 1 Concept that is being contextualised. This can be any Concept. P
unit of measurement Unit 0..1 The unit of measurement associated to the Concept, when the Concept relates to any measurable property, in the context of the Dataset. Notice that this property serves a very specific use case for TERN. P

Concept Scheme

Definition
A SKOS concept scheme can be viewed as an aggregation of one or more SKOS concepts. Semantic relationships (links) between those concepts may also be viewed as part of a concept scheme.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
title Literal 1 A name of the concept scheme. May be repeated for different versions of the name. P
source Literal 0..* Description and/or link to an external resource from which this Scheme is based on. P

Data Quality

Definition
Represents information relative to the quality of the data listed in the Dataset.
Note
This new class has been created to faithfully represent the information contained in the [[TERN-ISO]] profile of [[ISO-19115-3]] and [[ISO-19157-2]]. See ISO Example.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
descriptive result Literal 0..1 Provides a statement regarding the Data Quality Assessment outcome. P
scope Concept 1 The level of scope for which data quality information is reported. The data quality must refer to the dataset. Recommended scope codes are available on ISO 19115 Scope code list. P
scope description Literal 0..1 Provides a summary of the scope of the Data Quality Assessment. P
standalone quality report Online Resource 0..1 Online data quality report. Links to the data quality reports available online. P

Dataset

Definition
A conceptual entity that represents the information published.
Reference in DCAT
dcat:Dataset
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Roles
Additional properties can used to express role-responsabilities between the Dataset and any entity:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
abstract Literal 1..* Describes the content of the resource (Dataset or Dataset Series). The abstract should include a brief summary of the following: what data were collected, where, when and how. Keep in mind that the abstract is about the Dataset, not the projects or the results. P
additional documentation Online Resource 0..* Citation of other documentation associated with the resource, e.g., related articles, publications, user guides, data dictionaries P
contact point Person | Organisation 0..* An entity (person or organisation) responsible for managing the Dataset. Contact information that can be used for sending comments about the Dataset. Link A
creation date Temporal Literal 0..1 The date on which the Dataset has been first created. P
creator Person | Organisation 0..* The entity primarily responsible for producing the Dataset. The order of importance of the entities can be expressed via RDF Sequence when needed. See example. Link A
credit text Literal 0..* Acknowledgement details. This field acknowledges individuals or organisations (other than those already included using the role properties) that contributed to creating the dataset, e.g., acknowledgements to traditional owners. Notice that all the information needed for generating a data citation following the [[?DataCite]] Metadata Schema are already recorded as part of the model (e.g., creator, publication year, title, publisher, identifier, etc.). P
data quality Data Quality 0..1 Provides details about the scope of the data quality assessment, reports on data quality and any data quality assessment outcome. P
dataset status Concept 0..1 Indicates the status of the dataset. The status of the dataset is 'ongoing' if more data points will be added in the future. The status of the dataset is 'completed' if no further data will be added. Other options are available for this field based on ISO 19115 Progres code list. P
dataset distribution Distribution 0..* An available Distribution for the Dataset. A dataset SHOULD always have at least one Distribution. Link A
environment description Literal 0..1 Information about the source and software to process the resource. This field allows to specify the environment used to curate/process the data. Details about the data processing enviroment, e.g., software, computer operating system, etc. can be provided here. P
extent Extent 0..* Spatial representation and properties related to the dataset. P
frequency Concept 0..1 The frequency at which the Dataset is updated. Recommended frequency options are available on ISO 19115 Maintenance Frequency code list. Please note that for completed datasets the maintenance frequency is usually 'notPlanned'. Link E
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Dataset. The main identifier for the Dataset, e.g. the URI or other unique identifier in the context of the Catalogue. P
in series Dataset Series 0..* A dataset series of which the dataset is part. Link E
keyword Literal 0..* A keyword or tag describing the Dataset. Any free-text keyword that may help users searching for the Dataset. This field should not include any keyword that can be represented as Concept from any available Controlled Vocabulary. CV used by TERN. Link A
language Literal 0..* A language of the Dataset. This property can be repeated if the metadata is provided in multiple languages. It is recommended to use a Controlled Vocabulary like ISO 639-2 Languages. Recommended CV. Link E
licence Licence Document 0..* A licence under which the Dataset can be used or reused. P
modification date Temporal Literal 0..1 The most recent date on which the Dataset was changed or modified. Link E
other citation details Literal 0..* Additional citation statements. Notice that all the information needed for generating a data citation following the [[?DataCite]] Metadata Schema are already recorded as part of the model (e.g., creator, publication year, title, publisher, identifier, etc.). Further information can be specified here if needed. P
other constraints Rights Statement 0..* Additional constraints that apply to the Dataset. Defines any additional usage constraints not already reflected by the dataset licence. These usually specify what the data are not suitable for. P
publication date Temporal Literal 0..1 Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the Dataset. Link A
publisher Person | Organisation 0..* An entity (person or organisation) responsible for making the Dataset available. Link E
purpose Literal 0..* Describes why the data from the Dataset were collected. E.g., Brief summary of the purpose of collecting the data including the potential usage. P
resource lineage Lineage 0..1 Lineage of a Dataset. Information about the provenance, source(s), and/or the production process(es) applied to the resource. P
resource specific usage Literal 0..1 Information about the use of the dataset in specific applications. P
security constraints Concept 0..1 Concerns about security that apply to the use of the Dataset. Defines handling restrictions imposed on the resource for national security or similar concerns e.g., commercial sensitivity, privacy considerations. Recommended security options are available on ISO 19115 Classification code list. For a general usage, 'unclassified' should be suitable for most datasets. P
spatial resolution Quality Measurement 0..1 The performed quality measurements describing the spatial resolution of the Dataset. In GeoDCAT-AP, this property is used to specify "spatial resolution", as defined in [[?INSPIRE-MD-REG]], [[ISO-19115]], and [[ISO-19115-1]]. Describes the spatial resolution of the original data in the dataset, i.e. regardless of how it is distributed using distributions. Link A
subject Literal 0..* Subjects or categories assigned to the Dataset, but not represented explicitely in the dataset metadata. Categories can be used to separate Datasets into groups, without changing the actual content of the Dataset (similar to Geonetwork categories). These Categories can be used to, for instance, filter a search result. P
supplemental information Literal 0..1 Any supplemental information needed to interpret the resource. Information about the Dataset that has not already been captured elsewhere. P
theme Concept | ContextOfConcept 0..* Vocabulary terms that describe the Dataset. These terms refer to a knowledge organisation system used to describe the Dataset. E.g., Science categories, Field of research, Instruments, Resolutions or Species information. CV used by TERN. Link E
title Literal 1..* A name given to the Dataset. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the name. Link E
version Literal 0..1 The version indicator (name or identifier) of a resource. Link A
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
coauthor Person | Organisation 0..* Party who jointly authors the resource. The order of importance of the entities can be expressed via RDF Sequence when needed. See example. P
collaborator Person | Organisation 0..* Party who assists with the generation of the resource other than the principal investigator. P
contributor Person | Organisation 0..* Party contributing to the resource. P
custodian Person | Organisation 0..* Party that accepts accountability and responsibility for the resource and ensures appropriate care and maintenance of the resource. P
distributor Person | Organisation 0..* Party who distributes the resource. P
editor Person | Organisation 0..* Party who reviewed or modified the resource to improve the content. P
funder Person | Organisation 0..* Party providing monetary support for the resource. P
mediator Person | Organisation 0..* A class of entity that mediates access to the resource and for whom the resource is intended or useful. P
originator Person | Organisation 0..* Party who created the resource. P
owner Person | Organisation 0..* Party that owns the resource. P
principal investigator Person | Organisation 0..* Key party responsible for gathering information and conducting research. P
processor Person | Organisation 0..* Party who has processed the data in a manner such that the resource has been modified. P
resource provider Person | Organisation 0..* Party that supplies the resource. P
rights holder Person | Organisation 0..* Party owning or managing rights over the resource. P
sponsor Person | Organisation 0..* Party who speaks for the resource. P
stakeholder Person | Organisation 0..* Party who has an interest in the resource or the use of the resource. P
user Person | Organisation 0..* Party who uses the resource. P

Dataset Series

Definition
A collection of datasets that are published separately, but share some characteristics that group them.
Reference in DCAT
Link
Usage Note
  • Dataset Series with a single dataset in the collection should be avoided.
  • Dataset Series without a dataset in the collection should be avoided.
  • Complex nesting should be avoided.
Please refer to the [[DCAT-AP]] General usage guidelines.
Subclass of
Dataset

Distribution

Definition
A physical embodiment of the Dataset in a particular format.
Reference in DCAT
Link
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
access URL Online Resource 1 Resource describing the Distribution. The Resource must describe all relevant fields from ISO metadata. Link E
distributor Person | Organisation 1 An entity (person or organisation) who distributes the resource (data distribution). P

Extent

Definition
A description of temporal and geographic coverage.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
geographical coverage Geometry 0..* A geographic region that is covered by the Dataset. This property refers to a geographic region that is covered by the Dataset. When multiple values are used for spatial coverage, this may be interpreted as a spatial union, or as alternative representations of spatial coverage that might fit, with no explicit spatial relation. P
location description Literal 0..1 Description of the location were the data was collected. This property refers to the location were the data was collected. The data of a Dataset can be location-agnostic. P
temporal coverage Period of time 0..1 A temporal period that the Dataset covers. Link A
vertical extent Vertical Extent 0..1 Definition of the vertical extent of the Dataset. P

Geometry

Definition
The geo:Geometry class provides a coherent set of direct positions in space. The positions are held within a Spatial Reference System (SRS).
Usage
It is recommend to describe the Geometry as Well-known Text, but any other serialisation defined in GeoSPARQL could be used.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
wkt geometry Literal 1 A geographic region that is covered by the Dataset as a Well-known Text serialisation. The geometry should be represented as a wktLiteral, including the SRS when possible. P

Licence Document

Definition
A legal document giving official permission to do something with a resource.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
description Literal 0..1 Description of the licence. P
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the licence. P
title Literal 1 A given name to the Licence. P
type Concept 1 The type of licence. Recommended licence types are available on the Controlled vocabularies for the Asset Description Metadata Schema from the European Comission. P

Literal

Definition
A literal value such as a string, integer or date; Literals may be typed, e.g. as a date according to xsd:date. Literals that contain human-readable text have an optional language tag as defined by [[?BCP47]].
Properties
This specification does not impose any additional requirements to properties for this entity.

Lineage

Definition
Information about the provenance, source(s), and/or the production process(es) applied to the resource.
Note
This new class has been created to faithfully represent the information contained in the [[TERN-ISO]] profile of [[ISO-19115-3]]. See ISO Example.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
description Literal 0..1 Detailed description of how the data were collected and/or processed. P
instructions Literal 0..1 This field describes the data collection and/or processing procedure. It is recommended to describe the procedure as step by step. P
lineage documentation Online Resource 0..* Online documentation describing how the data was collected and/or processed. See full example. P
scope Concept 1 The level of scope for which data lineage is described. The lineage must refer to the dataset. Recommended scope codes are available on ISO 19115 Scope code list. P

Online Resource

Definition
An online resource described in RDF.
Usage Notes
This new class has been created to faithfully represent the information contained in the [[TERN-ISO]] profile of [[ISO-19115-3]] referent to the OnlineResource.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
description Literal 0..1 Description of the resource. Provides additional information about the resource. E.g., 'layer name' of a WMS resource. P
conforms to Standard 0..1 Service protocol of the resource. When the resource represents a Distribution, this property should indicate the data transfer protocol. E.g., 'web address' or 'OGC Web Map Service'. TERN CV for service protocols. P
format Literal 0..1 Format of the resource. Free-text indicating the format of the data distribution, e.g., Microsoft Excel P
title Literal 1 A name given to the resource. This property can be repeated for parallel language versions of the name. P
type Concept 0..1 Function performed by the resource. Recommended function codes are available on ISO 19115 Online Function code list P
value Literal 1 Link to the online resource. P

Organisation

Definition
Any entity carrying out actions with respect to the (Core) entities Catalogue, Datasets, Dataset Series and Distributions.
Reference in DCAT
Link
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
country Literal 0..1 The country of the entity. P
email Literal 0..1 The email address of the entity, specified using fully qualified mailto: URI scheme [[?RFC6068]]. P
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Organisation. P
locality Literal 0..1 The locality of the entity. P
name Literal 1 A name of the entity. P
postal code Literal 0..1 The postal code of the entity. P
region Literal 0..1 The region of the entity. P
street address Literal 0..1 The postal address of the entity. P
telephone Literal 0..1 The phone number of the entity, specified using fully qualified tel: URI scheme [[?RFC3966]]. P

Period of Time

Definition
An interval of time that is named or defined by its start and end dates.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
beginning Time instant 0..1 The beginning of a period or interval. Link E
end Time instant 0..1 The end of a period or interval. Link E
end date Temporal Literal 0..1 The end of the period. Link E
start date Temporal Literal 0..1 The start of the period. Link E
is equivalent to , but it uses the [[?OWL-TIME]] properties.

Person

Definition
Any entity carrying out actions with respect to the (Core) entities Catalogue, Datasets, Dataset Series and Distributions.
Reference in DCAT
Link
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
affiliation Organisation 0..* The affiliation of the entity. P
country Literal 0..1 The country of the entity. P
email Literal 0..1 The email address of the entity, specified using fully qualified mailto: URI scheme [[?RFC6068]]. P
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Person. P
locality Literal 0..1 The locality of the entity. P
name Literal 1 A name of the entity. P
orcid Literal 0..1 The unique, persistent identifier (PID) for the individual provided by Orcid. P
postal code Literal 0..1 The postal code of the entity. P
region Literal 0..1 The region of the entity. P
street address Literal 0..1 The postal address of the entity. P
telephone Literal 0..1 The phone number of the entity, specified using fully qualified tel: URI scheme [[?RFC3966]]. P

Rights Statement

Definition
A statement about the intellectual property rights (IPR) held in or over a resource, a legal document giving official permission to do something with a resource, or a statement about access rights.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
title Literal 1 A name given to the RightsStatement. TDB P

Spatial Resolution

Definition
Represents the evaluation of a given resource (as a Dataset, or Distribution) against a specific quality metric.
Usage Note
Used to represent the Spatial resolution of the dataset as for the Resource metadata in ISO 19115.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
measurement of Metric 1 The Metric being observed. This property is used to specify the type of spatial resolution being described, by taking as object one of the instances of dqv:Metric documented in Instances of Metric by [[GeoDCAT-AP]]. P
unit of measurement Unit 1 The unit in which the data values are measured. This property is used to specify, when relevant, the unit of measure of the spatial resolution being described, by taking as object the relevant term from the QUDT Units Vocabulary [[?QUDT-UNITS]] P
value Concept 1 Value computed by the relevant Metric. This property is used to specify the value of the spatial resolution being described via a typed literal. The datatype MUST correspond to the one specified via property dqv:expectedDataType in the definition of the corresponding instance of dqv:Metric. P

Standard

Definition
A standard or other specification to which a resource conforms.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
identifier Literal 1 An unambiguous reference to the resource within the given context of Standard. P
publication date Temporal Literal 0..1 The date on which the Standard was first released. P
title Literal 0..1 A name given to the Standard. P
version Literal 0..1 The version indicator (name or identifier) of the standard. P

Unit of Measurement

Definition
A unit of measure, or unit, is a particular quantity value that has been chosen as a scale for measuring other quantities the same kind (more generally of equivalent dimension).
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
defined by Literal 1 Vocabulary defining the unit of measurement. Defined by QUDT Units vocabulary. P
label Literal 1 A given name of the unit of measurement. P

Vertical Extent

Definition
Provides vertical component of the extent of the resource.
Properties
For this entity the following properties are defined:
Property Range Card Definition Usage DCAT Reuse
conforms to Literal 1 Vertical Spatial reference system code of the vertical extent. Vertical Datum represented as a code (e.g., AHD, EGM2020, EPSG:5712) or as a URI (http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/5712). P
maximum altitude Literal 1 Maximun altitude of the resource. P
minimum altitude Literal 1 Minimum altitude of the resource. P
unit of measurement Unit 1 The unit of measurement of the vertical extent. QUDT Units vocabulary to be used. Preferably represented in Metres. P

Datatypes

The following datatypes, among others, are used within this specification.
Class Definition
rdfs:Literal encoded using the relevant [[?ISO8601]] Date and Time compliant string and typed using the appropriate XML Schema datatype (xsd:gYear, xsd:gYearMonth, xsd:date, or xsd:dateTime).
A temporal entity with zero extent or duration.
A string that conforms to the syntax of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) as defined by [[?RFC3986]]. This datatype is used for URIs, URLs, and IRIs.
Object with integer-valued year, month and day properties. The date is represented in the Gregorian calendar.
Object with integer-valued year, month, day, hour and minute properties, a decimal-valued second property, and a boolean timezoned property. The date and time are represented in the Gregorian calendar.

Controlled Vocabularies

Controlled vocabularies to be used

In the table below, a number of properties are listed with controlled vocabularies that MUST be used for the listed properties. The declaration of the following controlled vocabularies as mandatory ensures a minimum level of interoperability.

Property URI Used for Class Vocabulary name Usage note
dct:accrualPeriodicity ISO 19115-3 Maintenance Frequency Code List
tern:securityConstraints ISO 19115-3 Classification Code List
adms:status ISO 19115-3 Progress Code List
tern:scope Lineage ISO 19115-3 Scope Code List
dcterms:type Online Resource ISO 19115-3 Online Function Code List
dcterms:conformsTo Online Resource TERN CV for service protocols
dct:language US Library of Congress ISO639-2 Languages
dct:type Licence Document ADMS licence type vocabulary The list of terms in the ADMS licence type vocabulary is included in the ADMS specification.
tern:unit QUDT Units vocabulary
dcterms:conformsTo, geo:asWKT OGC EPSG Coordinate Reference Systems Register [[OGC-EPSG]]

In the table below, a number of properties are listed with controlled vocabularies that MAY be used for the listed properties. Notice that the following vocabularies may be only useful in regards to Ecological Datasets holded by [[TERN]].

Property URI Used for Class Vocabulary name Usage note
dcat:theme The values to be used for this property are the URIs of the concepts in the vocabulary. Any other CV can be used as themes.

Other controlled vocabularies

In addition to the proposed common controlled vocabularies, which are mandatory to ensure minimal interoperability, implementers are encouraged to publish and to use further region or domain-specific vocabularies that are available online. While those may not be recognised by general implementations of the Application Profile, they may serve to increase interoperability across applications in the same region or domain.

Validation of TERN-DCAT

To support the check whether or not a catalogue satisfies the expressed constraints in this Application Profile, the constraints in this specification are expressed using SHACL [[shacl]]. Each constraint in this specification that could be converted into a SHACL expression has been included. As such this collection of SHACL expressions that can be used to build a validation check for a data exchange between two systems. A typical use case is the harvesting of one catalogue into another.

Validation of a catalogue according to TERN-DCAT specification should be considered as a standalone specification and validate all constraints at once. Take into account that TERN-DCAT is an extension of [[vocab-dcat-3]], very highly influenced by [[DCAT-AP]] and [[GeoDCAT-AP]], but with some considerable differences to fit the specific [[TERN]]'s use case and [[TERN-ISO]] metadata profile. Using additional properties from [[vocab-dcat-3]] (or any other extension) is valid and should not break this validation.

ISO 19115 Mappings

Overview

The objective of this work is to define an RDF syntax that can be used for the exchange of descriptions of spatial datasets among data portals. For that purpose, a mapping between all metadata elements of the core profile of [[TERN-ISO]] ([[ISO-19115-3]] and [[ISO-19157-2]]) and the TERN-DCAT application profile is documented in this page.

Mappings

ISO 19115 resource

ISO 19115 path

 TERN-DCAT Property Domain Range Comments

Metadata identifier (M)

MD_Metadata.metadataIdentifier > code

dcterms:identifier

dcat:CatalogRecord

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Resource identifier.

Metadata record description (M)

MD_Metadata.metadataIdentifier > description

dcterms:description

dcat:CatalogRecord

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Resource decription.

Metadata language (M)

MD_Metadata.defaultLocale > PT_Locale.language

dcterms:lenguage

dcat:CatalogRecord

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Resource

rdfs:Literal

See Resource locale.

Metadata encoding (M)

MD_Metadata.defaultLocale > PT_Locale.characterEncoding

cnt:characterEncoding

dcat:CatalogRecord

rdfs:Literal

See Resource locale. Metadata in TERN-DCAT should be always in UTF-8.

Parent metadata identifier (O)

MD_Metadata.parentMetadata > CI_Citation.identifier.code

dcterms:identifier

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal

See Parent metadata.

Parent metadata title (O)

MD_Metadata.parentMetadata > CI_Citation.title

dcterms:title

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal

See Parent metadata.

Metadata scope (M)

MD_Metadata.metadataScope > MD_MetadataScope.resourceScope

N/A N/A N/A All metadata resources are "dataset".

Metadata record dates (R)

MD_Metadata.dateInfo > CI_Date.date [dateType="creation" or dateType="revision"]

dcterms:created

dcterms:modified

dcat:CatalogRecord

rdfs:Literal (xsd:date / xsd:dateTime)

See Metadata dates.

Metadata standard and profile (ISO) (M)

MD_Metadata.metadataStandard / MD_Metadata.metadataProfile

N/A

N/A

N/A

 These sections in the ISO metadata are not mapped to DCAT as they exclusively talk about the ISO standard versions in the source file.

Metadata standard (RDF) (M)

implicit element

dcterms:conformsTo

dcat:CatalogRecord

dcterms:Standard

See Metadata Standard. This element, not existing in ISO 19115, is just meant to provide the context for the specification of the metadata standard name and version.

Metadata linkage (M)

MD_Metadata.metadataLinkage > linkage

dcterms:source

dcat:CatalogRecord

rdfs:Literal (xsd:anyURI)

See Metadata linkage.

Metadata point of contact (M)

MD_Metadata.contact

dcterms:source

dcat:CatalogRecord

schema:Person / schema:Organization

See Responsible party and metadata point of contact. Example Record contact.

Reference System (M) (spatial component)

MD_Metadata.referenceSystemInfo

dcterms:conforms

geo:asWKT

tern:VerticalExtent

geo:Geometry

skos:Concept

See Reference system info. Example Geodetic.

Resource (Dataset) identifier (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.identifier

adms:identifier

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Unique Resource identifier.

Resource (Dataset) title (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.title

dcterms:title

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Title.

Resource (Dataset) reference date (M) - publication

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.date (datetype = 'publication')

dcterms:issued

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

Temporal Literal See Dataset. Example Dates.

Resource (Dataset) reference date (M) - revision

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.date (datetype = 'revision')

dcterms:modified

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

Temporal Literal See Dataset. Example Dates.

Resource (Dataset) reference date (M) - creation

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.date (datetype = 'creation')

dcterms:created

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

Temporal Literal See Dataset. Example Dates.

Resource (Dataset) version (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.edition

dcat:version

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Version.

Responsible party (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > citation.citedResponsibleParty

dcterms:creator

dcterms:publisher

tern:coAuthor

...

tern:user

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

schema:Person

schema:Organization

 See Responsible party and metadata point of contact. Example Responsible parties.

Resource (Dataset) abstract (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > abstract

schema:abstract

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Abstract.

Resource (Dataset) purpose (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > purpose

dcat:version

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Purpose.

Resource (Dataset) credit text (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > credit

schema:creditText

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Credit text.

Resource (Dataset) status (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > status

adms:status

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

skos:Concept See Dataset. Example Status.

Resource (Dataset) point of contact (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > pointOfContact

dterms:contactPoint

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

schema:Person

schema:Organization

 See Responsible party and metadata point of contact. Example Contact point.

Resource (Dataset) topic category (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > topicCategory

dcat:theme

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

skos:Concept See Dataset. Example Topic category.

Resource (Dataset) geographic description (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.description

tern:locationDescription

tern:Extent

rdfs:Literal See Extent. Example Location description.

Resource (Dataset) geographic coverage (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.geographicElement.westBoundLongitude

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.geographicElement.eastBoundLongitude

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.geographicElement.southBoundLatitude

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.geographicElement.northBoundLatitude

geo:hasGeometry -> geo:asWKT

tern:Extent > geo:Geometry

rdfs:Literal (geo:wktLiteral) See Extent. Example Geographical coverage.

Resource (Dataset) temporal coverage (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.temporalElement.extent.beginPosition

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.temporalElement.extent.endPosition

dcterms:temporal -> (dcat:startDate / dcat:endDate)

tern:Extent > dcterms:PeriodOfTime

rdfs:Literal (xsd:date / xsd:dateTime) See Extent. Example Temporal coverage.

Resource (Dataset) vertical extent (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.verticalElement.minimumValue

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.verticalElement.maximumValue

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > extent.verticalElement.verticalCRSId

tern:verticalExtent

tern:Extent

tern:VerticalExtent See Extent. Example Vertical extent and Vertical CRS.

Resource (Dataset) maintenance and update frequency (R)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > resourceMaintenance.maintenanceAndUpdateFrequency

dcterms:accrualPeriodicity

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

skos:Concept See Dataset. Example Maitenance frequency.

Resource (Dataset) descriptive keywords (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > descriptiveKeywords

dcat:theme / dcat:keyword

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

skos:Concept / rdfs:Literal See Dataset. Example Themes or Keywords.

Resource (Dataset) access constraints (M)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > resourceConstraints.MD_LegalConstraints

dcterms:license

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

dcterms:LicenseDocument See Dataset. Example Licence.

Resource (Dataset) security constraints (R)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > resourceConstraints.MD_SecurityConstraints

tern:securityConstraints

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

skos:Concept See Dataset. Example Security constraints.

Resource (Dataset) other constraints (O)

MD_Metadata.identificationInfo > resourceConstraints.MD_LegalConstraints.otherConstraints

tern:securityConstraints

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

dcterms:RightsStatement See Dataset. Example Other constraints.

Distribution transfer options (O)

MD_Metadata.distributionInfo > transferOptions.MD_DigitalTransferOptions

dcat:distribution

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

dcat:Distribution See Distribution.

Resource distributor (O)

MD_Metadata.distributionInfo > distributor

tern:distributor dcat:Distribution

schema:Person

schema:Organization

See Responsible party and metadata point of contact. Example Distributor.

Resource (Dataset) data quality (O)

MD_Metadata.dataQualityInfo

tern:dataQuality

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

tern:DataQuality See Data quality.

Resource (Dataset) data lineage (O)

MD_Metadata.resourceLineage

sosa:usedProcedure

dcat:Dataset

dcat:DatasetSeries

tern:Method See Lineage.

Detailed usage notes and examples

This annex contains further usage notes and examples on the mappings summarised in RDF syntax bindings for ISO 19115 metadata elements.

Resource identifier and description

Unique identifier for the metadata file.

The content of the element 'resource identifier' and 'resource description' can be represented in RDF as a plain literal, and by using properties dcterms:identifier and dcterms:description, respectively.

This binding may also include the specification of the language by using attribute @xml:lang [[?XML]]. The language to be specified is the one indicated by element metadata language, mapped to the language identifiers defined by IETF BCP 47 [[?BCP47]].

Resource locale

Language and character set used for documenting metadata.

The content of the element 'resource language' and 'resource encoding' can be represented in RDF as a plain literal, and by using properties dcterms:lenguage and cnt:characterEncoding, respectively.

Parent metadata

Identification of the parent metadata record.

The content of the element 'parent metadata' can be represented in RDF as plain literals, and by using the properties dcterms:identifier and dcterms:title of a new Dataset Series entity. The metadata record is linked with its parent record using the property dcat:inSeries.

In TERN-DCAT, metadata relationships (exclusively parent-child) are represented via Dataset (child) and Dataset Series (parent).

Metadata dates

Date(s) associated with the metadata. NOTE 'creation' date should always be provided, others can also be provided.

The content of the element 'metadata dateInfo' can be represented in RDF as plain literals, and by using properties dcterms:created and dcterms:modified.

Metadata standard

Citation for the standard to which the metadata conforms. NOTE Metadata standard citations should include an identifier.

TERN-DCAT uses dcterms:conformsTo to specify the metadata standard. This pattern is illustrated in the following table:

Metadata element Proposed mapping
Metadata standard Metadata standard name dcterms:conformsTo (range dcterms:Standard) dcterms:title
Metadata standard identifier dcterms:identifier
Metadata standard publication date dcterms:issued
Metadata standard version owl:versionInfo

Metadata linkage

Online location where the metadata is available.

The content of the element 'metadata linkage' can be represented in RDF as a plain literal, and by using property dcterms:source.

Responsible party and metadata point of contact

[[?vocab-dcat-3]] supports properties to denote the publisher, the creator, and the contact point for a dataset.

By contrast, [[ISO-19115]] supports 20 possible relationships between a resource (a dataset, a dataset series, a service) and an agent (organisation), plus one for metadata. However, for only some of them suitable candidates exist from widely used vocabularies (in particular, DCMI Metadata Terms [[DCTERMS]]).

In order to fill this gap, specific properties have been defined in the [[TERN]] namespace to complement those available in [[?vocab-dcat-3]] and [[DCTERMS]].

The following table lists the mappings between responsible party roles and the corresponding properties used in TERN-DCAT.

[[ISO-19115]] Description Proposed RDF mapping
Author Party who authored the resource. dcterms:creator
Co Author Party who jointly authors the resource. tern:coAuthor
Collaborator Party who assists with the generation of the resource other than the principal investigator. tern:collaborator
Contributor Party contributing to the resource. tern:contributor
Custodian Party that accepts accountability and responsibility for the data and ensures appropriate care and maintenance of the resource. tern:custodian
Distributor Party who distributes the resource tern:distributor
Editor Party who reviewed or modified the resource to improve the content. tern:editor
Funder Party providing monetary support for the resource. tern:funder
Mediator A class of entity that mediates access to the resource and for whom the resource is intended or useful. tern:mediator
Originator Party who created the resource. tern:originator
Owner Party that owns the resource. tern:owner
Point of contact Party who can be contacted for acquiring knowledge about or acquisition of the resource. dcat:contactPoint
Principal investigator Key party responsible for gathering information and conducting research tern:principalInvestigator
Processor Party who has processed the data in a manner such that the resource has been modified. tern:processor
Publisher Party who published the resource dcterms:publisher
Resource provider Party that supplies the resource. tern:resourceProvider
Rights holder Party owning or managing rights over the resource. dcterms:rightsHolder
Sponsor Party who speaks for the resource. tern:sponsor
Stakeholder Party who has an interest in the resource or the use of the resource. tern:stakeholder
User Party who uses the resource. tern:user

Reference system info

Description of the spatial and temporal reference systems used in the dataset.

Both geodetic and vertical CRS can be expressed as Concept from the [[OGC-EPSG]] controlled vocabulary.

Dataset resource

Basic information about the resource(s) (Dataset / DatasetSeries) to which the metadata applies.

Data quality info

Provides overall assessment of quality of a resource(s).

Resource lineage

Information about the provenance, source(s), and/or the production process(es) applied to the resource.

Geographic and temporal coverage

Digital representation of spatial information in the dataset.

Distribution

Provides information about the distributor of and options for obtaining the resource(s).

Acknowledgements

The Editors recognise the major contribution of the members of the original [[?DXWG]], [[?VOCAB-DCAT]], [[?DCAT-AP]] and [[GeoDCAT-AP]] on which this Aplication Profile and its documentation is based.