[WIP] GOOS Essential Ocean Variable (EOV) semantics

[pbuttigieg]

Addressing #904

Ontological rendering of https://goosocean.org/what-we-do/framework/essential-ocean-variables/

General checks when class creation is complete:

• ensure envoEOVs subset tag is on all relevant classes
• ensure links to EOV spec sheet pages on all relevant classes (ping GOOS to create AquaDocs DOIs)
• ensure comment noting GOOS EOV alignment is on all relevant classes
• create issues to resolve issues noted in editor notes (e.g. import of argon-39)
• determine which BioEco EOV classes are to be officialised
• update ODIS Book EOV guidance to match new data flow and declaration strategy for EOV Portals

"Biology and ecosystems"

• Phytoplankton biomass and diversity
• Zooplankton biomass and diversity
• Fish abundance and distribution
• Marine turtles, birds, mammals abundance and distribution
• Hard coral cover and composition
• Seagrass cover and composition
• Macroalgal canopy cover and composition
• Mangrove cover and composition
• Microbe biomass and diversity (*pilot)
• Invertebrate abundance and distribution (*pilot)
• Add composition synonyms to diversity classes

"Biochemistry"

• Oxygen
• Nutrients
• Inorganic carbon
• Transient tracers
• Particulate matter
• Nitrous oxide
• Stable carbon isotopes
• Dissolved organic carbon

"Physics"

• Sea state
• Ocean surface stress
• Sea ice
• Sea surface height
• Sea surface temperature
• Subsurface temperature
• Surface currents
• Subsurface currents
• Sea surface salinity
• Subsurface salinity
• Ocean surface heat flux
• Ocean bottom pressure
• Turbulent diapycnal fluxes (*pilot)

"Cross-disciplinary (including human impact)"

• Ocean sound
• Ocean colour
• Marine debris (*pilot)

[cmungall]

The qualities seem to fit a pattern - any reason not to use equivalence axioms?

[pbuttigieg]

We could. I'm setting up the base layers for the actual variables at this stage, so things are in flux.

[pbuttigieg]

Hard coral cover and composition
Seagrass cover and composition
Macroalgal canopy cover and composition
Mangrove cover and composition

The notion of "composition" is semantically ambiguous. I'm treating it as equivalent to biodiversity (writ large) for the moment. I've asked for clarification from the GOOS BioEco Panel.

Incoming clarifications [continuous update]

They are equivalent and interchangeable as composition is intended to refer to the biological diversity in that EOV class (not chemical or other)

Further discussion between BioEco Panel members revealed differences in understandings and a few subtleties.

Composition is understood as richness paired with identity, the basis of compositionality-based analysis (in the geological sense, adopted by ecology to correct for spurious negative correlations and related compositional effects).

The conclusion of the thread is that the BioEco EOVs need to be disaggregated into various measures of diversity assessement (at the variable level, not the quality level I think). These will include alpha, beta, gamma diversity, composition, richness, and evenness. This is quite the explosion of classes, but seems necessary.