Paleoscience data are extremely heterogeneous; hundreds of different types of measurements and reconstructions are routinely made by scientists on a variety of types of physical samples. This heterogeneity is one of the biggest barriers to finding paleoclimatic records, to building large-scale data products, and to the use of paleoscience data beyond the community of specialists. Here, we document the Paleoenvironmental Standard Terms (PaST) thesaurus, the first authoritative vocabulary of standardized variable names for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental data developed in a formal knowledge organization structure. This structure is designed to improve data set discovery, support automated processing of data, and provide connectivity to other vocabularies. PaST is now used operationally at the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology (WDS-Paleo), one of the largest repositories of paleoscience information. Terms from the PaST thesaurus standardize a broad array of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic measured and inferred variables, providing enough detail for accurate and precise data discovery and thereby promoting data reuse. We describe the main design decisions and features of the thesaurus, the governance structure for ongoing maintenance, and WDS-Paleo services that now employ PaST. These services include an advanced search by variable name, an interface for thesaurus navigation, and a machine-readable representation in the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) standard. This overview is designed for developers of thesauri, data contributors, and users of the WDS-Paleo, and serves as a building block for future efforts within the broader paleoscience community to improve how data are described for long-term findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability.
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Description
The World Data Service for Paleoclimatology defines measured variables using the PaST thesaurus of standard terms. These terms describe the quantity measured, the material on which it was measured, reported error, units, analytical or statistical methods, transformations made to raw data, reconstructed seasonality, data type, and data format. Standard terms organize heterogeneous paleoclimate datasets and improve the findability, interoperability, and reusability of data., This file contains concepts, labels, and relationships that make up the Paleoenvironmental Standard Terms (PaST) thesaurus. This representation of the thesaurus follows the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) data model and has Resource Description Framework (RDF) syntax. This file gives a snapshot of the thesaurus as of the date tagged in the SKOS ConceptScheme. Additional documentation as well as archived, static versions of the thesaurus are available at: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/31892. Please cite the preceding URL, the publication listed at that URL, and the date accessed when referencing the thesaurus.
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Initial created on
December 2, 2020.
For additional information, contact
Noaa National Centers For Environmental Information (ncei.info@noaa.gov).
Data of past climate and environment derived from unusual proxy evidence. Parameter keywords describe what was measured in this data set. Additional summary information can be found in the abstracts of papers listed in the data set citations.
Methodology and provenance
The fields Knowledge representation paradigm, Engineering methodology, Created with, Accrual method, Accrual periodicity... are empty
