Know the EarthShow the Way Geospatial Ontologies A

Know the Earth…Show the Way Geospatial Ontologies A View from NGA Dan Adams Senior Research Scientist NGA Office of Basic and Applied Research Daniel. R. Adams@nga. mil NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Standards, Canon, Opinions, and Disclaimers • NGA presently has no standard geospatial ontology/ontologies • NGA presently has no policies for the development and deployment of ontologies • But interest is growing… • What follows is the view from an Applied Research perspective 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Ontologies: Of What … and Why • • Features Names Topography Geography (physical, political, …) Topology Mereology Provenance Domains 21 June 2006 • Domain to Data – Discovery – Retrieval – Integration • Data to Data – Integration • Knowledge↔Data Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Top Down, Bottom Up or Middle Out? • No apparent interest in, or traction for, use of upper ontologies • Efforts thus far have been Bottom Up… – University research in codification of things observable on the ground – Promotion of Feature Catalog to an ontology – Ontology layers over data source such as airfields (DAFIF™), vertical obstructions (DVOD), Geo. Names, etc. 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Top Down, Bottom Up or Middle Out? (cont) • And Middle Out – Narrow domains with hand-crafted ontologies bound to lower ontologies – Data ontologies bound upward (to Cyc) • Geospatial Semantic Web research program (started late in 2004) has been primarily working with lower and middle ontologies 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Why is NGA Interested in Ontologies? 1. Organization of Information • “Smart” Taxonomies 2. Information Discovery 3. Integration of Data Sources • • Greatest Hype Risk Many databases Overlapping, sometimes inconsistent, attributes 4. Knowledge Capture and Exploitation • 21 June 2006 More than just ontologies Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Ontology Development Activities at NGA • NURI grant for landscape-based feature classification taxonomy - 2003 • Extracting ontologies in OWL format from Cyc (after enriching the geospatial knowledge in Cyc) - 2005 • Concept Maps vice Ontologies for capturing domain knowledge - 2006 – And possibly binding concept maps to ontologies • “Mini-” ontologies for research prototypes 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Where are Ontologies Needed Now? (Feature level) • (Semantic) integration of databases – GGMA is the most visible project (but NGA has a lot of databases…) – Which ontologies will facilitate this? • Discovery and Sharing of relevant data – Within NGA – Between agencies (e. g. , DIA, DHS, USGS) – Augment – not replace – metadata 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Where will Ontologies be Needed Next? (Add concept and process level) • Enriched analytical products – Move beyond words and embedded pictures • Smarter analytical environments – Assist with process of analysis 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Where the Heavy Lifting is Needed • Build a good ontology of geospatial features to support data integration right now – Try to use what’s already been done – Leave room to grow and adapt – Anticipate and prepare for overlapping ontologies – Keep the metadata distinct from the ontology – Check GIS and RDBMS biases at the door 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Phrases You Never Expected to Hear… • “There simply aren’t enough good philosophers to go around. ” -- Mark Musen (attributed to Barry Smith? ) • “We’re going to have to start taking this semantic web stuff seriously. ” – Michael Witbrock 21 June 2006 Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY UNCLASSIFIED NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Know the Earth…Show the Way 21 June 2006 UNCLASSIFIED Approved for Public Release Case 06 -272 Know the Earth…Show the Way