PhD: Models and Semantic Annotations

• Supervisor: Werner Kuhn (not yet confirmed)
• Contact Person (IFGI):
• Contact Person (INPE):
• Responsible Student:

• Objectives / Potential Tasks
  • Ontologies capturing different aspects / types of models
  • Semantics of required parameters (data, ICs)
  • Implementation of “Model Web” components supporting annotation, publication, and retrieval of models

Mobility Measure: IFGI → INPE

Semantically annotating the geographic information (in the sense of geospatial data) has been investigated at IFGI, but we did not yet much consider the dynamic dimension of GI. In the following paper we discuss how the notion of semantic annotations can be applied to executable models deployed as web services (as underlying assumption). We illustrate the methodology, and discuss how we can query models (and which particular properties of models would be interesting to query for).

We should consider different model types as examples (agent-based model vs. monte carlo vs. numerical model).

Some of the questions which could be discussed in this PhD:

• What is our understanding of a model?
• What are the common properties of models?
• How do we link the executable models to the data sources on the ontological level?
• How do we describe the input constraints (the parameters which often are not related to the real world)?
• Is there a distinction between the model and the model outcome? Is the user interested in execute models (or simply for the result of the model at a specific scale for a specific time)?
• What different types of queries should exist to query for model outcome? Walk through the queries.
• How can we build user interfaces which abstract from these queries?