Observations, Measurements, and Samples

Overview

The Observations, Measurements, and Samples standard (OMS), jointly prepared and published by the Open Geospatial Consortium and ISO/TC 211 as OGC Abstract Specification Topic 20 (OGC 20-082r4) and ISO 19156:2023, defines a conceptual schema for observations, for features involved in the observation process, and for features involved in sampling when making observations. Models support the exchange of information describing observation acts and their results, both within and between different scientific and technical communities.

Observations commonly involve sampling of an ultimate feature-of-interest. OMS defines a common set of sample types according to their spatial, material (for ex situ observations), or statistical nature. The Standard’s schema includes relationships between sample features (sub-sampling, derived samples). It also adds concepts that were deemed missing in the previous version and provides additional clarification to the provided concepts and their relationships while keeping the core data model mostly intact. In addition, a new fine-grained requirements class structure has been created, enabling implementations to unambiguously declare the parts of the standard they conform to.

The abstract data models described in OMS provide common concepts and logical structures for exchanging observational data and metadata between various information systems as well as for harmonized handling of such information from various heterogeneous sources. Technical implementation standards and profiles, on the other hand, provide concrete solutions tailored for storing, exchanging and processing OMS information in particular technical environments and use cases.

The work on revising existing OMS-related OGC Implementation Standards to fully comply with the OGC 20-082r4 requirements is in progress in OGC, including Sensor Things API and Timeseries Markup Language. Work is also underway for harmonization between the already closely related OMS and the W3C SSN/SOSA Standards. New OGC Implementation Standards are being pursued for OMS JSON encoding and OMS related dataset metadata led by the OGC OMS Standards Working Group.

The OMS family of Standards contribute to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles for various kinds of measurable information, including environmental monitoring as well as remote and in-situ sensing by providing a common conceptual framework for discovering, collecting, and analyzing related information from various sources and data providers.

Downloads

Document title	Version	OGC Doc No.	Type
Topic 20: Observations, measurements and samples	3.0	20-082r4	AS
Observations and Measurements – XML Implementation	2.0	10-025r1	IS
Timeseries Profile of Observations and Measurements		15-043r3	IS
Topic 20 – Observations and Measurements	2.0	10-004r3	D-AS
OGC Observations and Measurements – JSON implementation		15-100r1	DP
Observations and Measurements – Part 1 – Observation schema	1.0	07-022r1	D-IS
Change Request – O&M Part 1 – Move extensions to new namespace		08-022r1	CR
GML 3.2 implementation of XML schemas in 07-002r3		08-129	D-DP
GML 3.2 implementation of XML schemas in 07-022r1		08-128	D-DP
Observations and Measurements – Part 2 – Sampling Features		07-002r3	D-IS
OGC® Earth Observation Metadata profile of Observations & Measurements		10-157r4	IS
Earth Observation Metadata profile of Observations & Measurements		10-157r3	D-IS
Observations and Measurements	0.9.2	03-022r3	D-RP
Observations and Measurements	0.86	02-027	D-DP
Observations and Measurements	0.14.7	05-087r4	D-BP
Observations and Measurements	0.13.0	05-087r3	D-DP