taxon-observation¶

The attributes of a single wildlife record.

The API is based on but not exactly the same as the NBN data exchange format field specifications to define taxon observations, as described in the guide to the NBN data exchange format Version 2.7, September 2014. Field names are always lowercased. The RecordKey field is replaced by an id field to keep taxon-observations consistent with other entities exposed by the API. In addition to the fields defined by the NBN exchange format, a lasteditdate field is required.

Todo

Consider case issues here - should fields be lowercased? T/F values are also inconsistently cased throughout the spec.

Taxon observations contain the following properties. Properties marked with a * are mandatory though check the property description for rules relating to the specific field.

  • id* - The unique identifier of the observation

  • href* - link to the observation’s URI. This can be omitted if the API implementation does not support access to a single observation by ID.

  • srchref - link to the URI of the object in its originating location, if different to href.

  • datasetName - name of the dataset this record was sourced from.

  • taxonVersionKey* - the Taxon Version Key from the UKSI species database.

  • taxonName* - the taxon name used by the recorder.

  • zeroAbundance - set to T to indicate an absence record or F otherwise. The default if not provided is F.

  • count - integer value representing the count.

  • delete - set to T to indicate this record has been deleted.

  • sensitive - set to T to indicate a sensitive record or F otherwise. The default if not provided is F.

  • startDate* - the start of the range of dates that the record covers, which will be the same as the enddate field when a record occurred on a single date.

  • endDate* - the end of the range of dates that the record covers, which will be the same as the startdate field when a record occurred on a single date.

  • dateType* - see the NBN Gateway Exchange format (http://www.nbn.org.uk/Share-Data/Providing-Data/NBN-Data-Exchange-format.aspx) for a definition of how date types are defined.

  • siteKey - a unique ID for the site if available.

  • siteName - the name of the site provided with the record.

  • gridReference* - the grid reference notation for the record. Mandatory unless east and north are provided. British National Grid or Irish Grid notation depending on projection.

  • east* - position of record in east/west direction. Mandatory unless gridreference is provided. Either a decimal longitude or easting.

  • north* - position of record in north/south direction. Mandatory unless gridreference is provided. Either a decimal latitude or northing.

  • projection* - indiciates the projection used for gridreference, east and north fields. Can be:

    • OSGB
    • OSI
    • WGS84
    • OSGB36

  • precision* - the spatial precision of the georeference in metres. Typically the size of the grid square.

  • recorder* - the recorder name(s).

  • determiner - the name of the person providing the initial identification.

  • lastEditDate - returns the date and time time of last edit.

An example taxon-observation object is:

{
  "id":"BRC100",
  "href":"http://example.com/rest/taxon-observations/BRC100",
  "srchref":"http://source-server-at-brc.com/rest/taxon-observations/BRC100",
  "datasetName":"iRecord::Mammals::Dorset Mammal Group",
  "taxonVersionKey":"NHMSYS0000530482",
  "taxonName":"Red Kite",
  "startDate":"2014-07-12",
  "endDate":"2014-07-12",
  "dateType":"D",
  "gridReference":"SU956436",
  "projection":"OSGB",
  "precision":"8",
  "recorder":"Joe Brown",
  "lastEditDate":"2014-09-12T13:24:11"
}