Ontology-driven representation of knowledge for geological maps

This paper presents an ontology-driven representation of knowledge for geological maps. The ontological formal language allows for a machine-readable encoding of the Earth scientist's interpretation through semantic categories and properties and is credited to support knowledge sharing and interoperability. We introduce an ontology-driven method for the interpretation and the encoding of the map data that employs shared vocabularies and resources encoded through ontologies in order to prevent the use of ambiguous terms. The approach relies on a computational ontology of the geological knowledge (OntoGeonous), which formalizes a number of geological knowledge sources (including GeoScienceML), to guide the interpretation process. The design of the database underlying the map (OntoGeoBase) constrains the process of data entry to refer to the terminology conveyed by the taxonomic-axiomatic nature of the ontology. This reduces the amount of implicit knowledge favouring a conceptual alignment of the ancillary documentation with the map, leading to a better comprehension of map and allowing the traceability of the interpretation.