The data stored for each observation can be divided into logical parts listed in table 1.
Data part |
Description |
Identification data |
|
Base data |
Data that can be or must be stored with each observation: •The unique ID of the observation (assigned by the system) •Sampling timestamp •Result timestamp •Sensor used to conduct the observation •Approval information •Erroneous flag •Observation number |
Type specific data |
Each feature type can define type specific data that can be stored with each observation of features of that type.Type specific observation data is an instance of a property structure defined by the feature type. |
Sensor configuration |
The instance of a Sensor observation PS defined by the sensor type used for the observation. Sensor configuration data is optional. |
Spatial data |
The location of the observation in a system defined as observation location system by the feature type of the feature the observation belongs to. |
Table 1: Data stored for observations
Each observation stores two different timestamps the sampling timestamp and the result timestamp. The sampling timestamp is the time that the result applies to the feature. The result timestamp is the time when the procedure associated with the observation act was applied. For some observations these are identical, in which case the result timestamp may be omitted. However, there are cases where they differ. The Sampling Timestamp is mandatory for each observation.
Observations are uniquely identified by the feature they belong to and the sampling timestamp. It is not possible to store two observations with the same sampling timestamp for the same feature. The result timestamp is not necessarily unique for all the observations belonging to one feature.
The erroneous flag stored within the observations base data is used to store data that is known to be erroneous but to also be able to exclude this data from processing or presentation. In processing and presentation the Application Server provides filters to omit or include erroneous observations.
The observation number is a user defined number for the observation. Redbex does not ensure that this number is unique however it supports a suggestion mechanism for these observation numbers.
For internal use the Application Server stores the timestamp when the observation was created (first stored in the Application Server Database) and the timestamp when the observation was last modified (when the data for the observation has changed).
