observations-table-schema.json

{
  "name": "observations",
  "title": "Observations",
  "description": "Table with observations derived from the media files. Associated with deployments (`deploymentID`). Observations can mark non-animal events (camera setup, human, blank) or one or more animal observations (`observationType` = `animal`) of a certain taxon, count, life stage, sex, behavior and/or individual. Observations can be made at different levels (`observationLevel`).",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "observationID",
      "description": "Unique identifier of the observation.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/occurrenceID",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true,
        "unique": true
      },
      "example": "obs1"
    },
    {
      "name": "deploymentID",
      "description": "Identifier of the deployment the observation belongs to. Foreign key to `deployments.deploymentID`.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/parentEventID",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true
      },
      "example": "dep1"
    },
    {
      "name": "mediaID",
      "description": "Identifier of the media file that was classified. Only applicable for media-based observations (`observationLevel` = `media`). Foreign key to `media.mediaID`.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/associatedMedia",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "m1"
    },
    {
      "name": "eventID",
      "description": "Identifier of the event the observation belongs to. Facilitates linking event-based and media-based observations with a permanent identifier.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/eventID",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "sequence1"
    },
    {
      "name": "eventStart",
      "description": "Date and time at which the event started. Formatted as an ISO 8601 string with timezone designator (`YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ` or `YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss±hh:mm`).",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/eventDate",
      "skos:narrowMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/startTimestamp",
      "type": "datetime",
      "format": "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true
      },
      "example": "2020-03-01T22:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "name": "eventEnd",
      "description": "Date and time at which the event ended. Formatted as an ISO 8601 string with timezone designator (`YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ` or `YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss±hh:mm`).",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/eventDate",
      "skos:narrowMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/endTimestamp",
      "type": "datetime",
      "format": "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true
      },
      "example": "2020-04-01T22:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "name": "observationLevel",
      "description": "Level at which the observation was classified. `media` for media-based observations that are directly associated with a media file (`mediaID`). These are especially useful for machine learning and don't need to be mutually exclusive (e.g. multiple classifications are allowed). `event` for event-based observations that consider an event (comprising a collection of media files). These are especially useful for ecological research and should be mutually exclusive, so that their `count` can be summed.",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true,
        "enum": [
          "media",
          "event"
        ]
      },
      "example": "media"
    },
    {
      "name": "observationType",
      "description": "Type of the observation. All categories in this vocabulary have to be understandable from an AI point of view. `unknown` describes classifications with a `classificationProbability` below some predefined threshold i.e. neither humans nor AI can say what was recorded.",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": true,
        "enum": [
          "animal",
          "human",
          "vehicle",
          "blank",
          "unknown",
          "unclassified"
        ]
      },
      "example": "animal"
    },
    {
      "name": "cameraSetupType",
      "description": "Type of the camera setup action (if any) associated with the observation.",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "enum": [
          "setup",
          "calibration"
        ]
      },
      "example": "calibration"
    },
    {
      "name": "scientificName",
      "description": "Scientific name of the observed individual(s).",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/scientificName",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "Canis lupus"
    },
    {
      "name": "count",
      "description": "Number of observed individuals (optionally of given life stage, sex and behavior).",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/individualCount",
      "type": "integer",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 1
      },
      "example": 5
    },
    {
      "name": "lifeStage",
      "description": "Age class or life stage of the observed individual(s).",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/lifeStage",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "enum": [
          "adult",
          "subadult",
          "juvenile"
        ]
      },
      "example": "adult"
    },
    {
      "name": "sex",
      "description": "Sex of the observed individual(s)",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/sex",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "enum": [
          "female",
          "male"
        ]
      },
      "example": "female"
    },
    {
      "name": "behavior",
      "description": "Dominant behavior of the observed individual(s), preferably expressed as controlled values (e.g. grazing, browsing, rooting, vigilance, running, walking). Formatted as a pipe (`|`) separated list for multiple values, with the dominant behavior listed first.",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/behavior",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "vigilance"
    },
    {
      "name": "individualID",
      "description": "Identifier of the observed individual.",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/organismID",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "RD213"
    },
    {
      "name": "individualPositionRadius",
      "description": "Distance from the camera to the observed individual identified by `individualID`. Expressed in meters. Required for distance analyses (e.g. [Howe et al. 2017](https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12790)) and random encounter modelling (e.g. [Rowcliffe et al. 2011](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00094.x)).",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 0
      },
      "unit": "m",
      "example": 6.81
    },
    {
      "name": "individualPositionAngle",
      "description": "Angular distance from the camera view centerline to the observed individual identified by `individualID`. Expressed in degrees, with negative values left, `0` straight ahead and positive values right. Required for distance analyses (e.g. [Howe et al. 2017](https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12790)) and random encounter modelling (e.g. [Rowcliffe et al. 2011](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00094.x)).",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": -90,
        "maximum": 90
      },
      "unit": "°",
      "example": -8.56
    },
    {
      "name": "individualSpeed",
      "description": "Average movement speed of the observed individual identified by `individualID`. Expressed in meters per second. Required for random encounter modelling (e.g. [Rowcliffe et al. 2016](https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.17)).",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 0
      },
      "unit": "m/s",
      "example": 1.75
    },
    {
      "name": "bboxX",
      "description": "Horizontal position of the top-left corner of a bounding box that encompasses the observed individual(s) in the media file identified by `mediaID`. Or the horizontal position of an object in that media file. Measured from the left and relative to media file width.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/XFrac",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1
      },
      "example": 0.2
    },
    {
      "name": "bboxY",
      "description": "Vertical position of the top-left corner of a bounding box that encompasses the observed individual(s) in the media file identified by `mediaID`. Or the vertical position of an object in that media file. Measured from the top and relative to the media file height.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/YFrac",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1
      },
      "example": 0.25
    },
    {
      "name": "bboxWidth",
      "description": "Width of a bounding box that encompasses the observed individual(s) in the media file identified by `mediaID`. Measured from the left of the bounding box and relative to the media file width.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/widthFrac",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 1e-15,
        "maximum": 1
      },
      "example": 0.4
    },
    {
      "name": "bboxHeight",
      "description": "Height of the bounding box that encompasses the observed individual(s) in the media file identified by `mediaID`. Measured from the top of the bounding box and relative to the media file height.",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/heightFrac",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 1e-15,
        "maximum": 1
      },
      "example": 0.5
    },
    {
      "name": "classificationMethod",
      "description": "Method (most recently) used to classify the observation.",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "enum": [
          "human",
          "machine"
        ]
      },
      "example": "human"
    },
    {
      "name": "classifiedBy",
      "description": "Name or identifier of the person or AI algorithm that (most recently) classified the observation.",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/identifiedBy",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "MegaDetector V5"
    },
    {
      "name": "classificationTimestamp",
      "description": "Date and time of the (most recent) classification. Formatted as an ISO 8601 string with timezone designator (`YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ` or `YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss±hh:mm`).",
      "skos:broadMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/dateIdentified",
      "type": "datetime",
      "format": "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "2020-08-22T10:25:19Z"
    },
    {
      "name": "classificationProbability",
      "description": "Degree of certainty of the (most recent) classification. Expressed as a probability, with `1` being maximum certainty. Omit or provide an approximate probability for human classifications.",
      "type": "number",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false,
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1
      },
      "example": 0.95
    },
    {
      "name": "observationTags",
      "description": "Tag(s) associated with the observation. Formatted as a pipe (`|`) separated list for multiple values, with values optionally formatted as `key:value` pairs.",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/ac/terms/tag",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": "travelDirection:left"
    },
    {
      "name": "observationComments",
      "description": "Comments or notes about the observation.",
      "skos:exactMatch": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/occurrenceRemarks",
      "type": "string",
      "constraints": {
        "required": false
      },
      "example": ""
    }
  ],
  "missingValues": [
    ""
  ],
  "primaryKey": "observationID",
  "foreignKeys": [
    {
      "fields": "deploymentID",
      "reference": {
        "resource": "deployments",
        "fields": "deploymentID"
      }
    },
    {
      "fields": "mediaID",
      "reference": {
        "resource": "media",
        "fields": "mediaID"
      }
    }
  ]
}