Validating observation data in WaterML 2.0

Abstract

Water observation data is a key element of a water resources information system as it is commonly used in national reports, environmental impact assessments and other analysis or modeling applications. A data standard is vital to support replication, synchronization and delivery for these applications. An international standard encoding for transfer of water information (WaterML 2.0) was previously developed to support data transfer requirements at all phases of the ingestion, data fusion, and delivery process, and suitable for adoption internationally by the water data community. Here we report on the design and implementation of a WaterML 2.0 validation service for executing specific schematic and semantic rules of the WaterML 2.0 standard. A WaterML 2.0 validation service allows for WaterML 2.0 encoded data to be tested in a context-sensitive manner. The OGC standard for Modular Specifications has been used for the WaterML 2.0 specification and includes a set of requirements and conformance classes. We report on how the set of requirements and conformance classes relate directly to the validation of WaterML 2.0 XML encodings. The result of a validation run allows users to determine the level of conformance of the respective WaterML 2.0 encoded data against the WaterML 2.0 specification. We also highlight the use of vocabulary services with the WaterML 2.0 validation service to perform code-list content and vocabulary checking.