Measurement

• CURIE: gmeow:Measurement
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/Measurement
• Category: class
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/observations
• Box roles: TBox role (What is this?)

An observation that assigns a quantitative or qualitative value to a feature of interest, typically carrying a unit, uncertainty, and determinacy model. The parent of temporal dating, spatial coordinate assignment, and scalar quantity measurements.

Structure

Subclass of: gmeow:Observation

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:Measurement as a specialized kind of gmeow:Observation. Add statement metadata or a standpoint when the assertion needs provenance, confidence, or vantage.

Example Snippets

These snippets are generated from canonical slice examples and trimmed to the Turtle blocks where this term appears.

Temperature Reading

• Source: slices/core/observations/examples/temperature-reading.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-core-observations-examples-temperature-reading

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: a measurement is a reified Observation ( P11). A
# gmeow:Measurement records WHAT was observed (gmeow:observedFeature), HOW
# (gmeow:observationMethod), and from WHERE (gmeow:vantage — the sensor). Its
# result is NOT a bare number on the observation: the scalar lives in an
# entity-valued gmeow:ScalarQuantity wrapper that bundles the value with its UNIT
# and uncertainty, so a temperature is never asserted free-floating (P11 — every
# value carries its frame). The unit is aligned to QUDT by reference (P5).
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/observations/> .
@prefix xsd:   <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

# --- The measurement: observed feature, method, vantage, and an entity result.
ex:reading a gmeow:Measurement ;
    gmeow:observedFeature   ex:room ;
    gmeow:observationMethod gmeow:methodInstrumentalReading ;
    gmeow:vantage           ex:sensor ;
    gmeow:observationResult ex:temp .

Spatial Bins

• Source: slices/extensions/aggregation/examples/spatial-bins.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-extensions-aggregation-examples-spatial-bins

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: spatial aggregation IS a measurement, with a privacy floor
# . A gmeow:SpatialAggregation is a gmeow:Measurement (so it carries the
# observation bundle: observedFeature, vantage, observationMethod, result) that
# applies a gmeow:aggregationFunction (average / count / density …) over
# gmeow:SpatialBins. gmeow:minimumPopulation is the k-anonymity floor: bins with
# fewer than that many people are NOT reported, so the aggregate can be published
# without re-identifying individuals (P12 — the safe public projection).
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/aggregation/> .
@prefix rdfs:  <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd:   <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:Observation

External Equivalences

Equivalent or closely aligned targets: sosa

Linkages

Generated from the canonical mapping DSL. SSSOM files are the generated public interchange form for term equivalences.

Term Equivalences

Usage Advice

Use when

• Use when an observation assigns a value to its feature — a dating, a coordinate fix, a scalar reading — so the claim inherits the observation roles while signalling it is a quantified/qualified measurement carrying unit, uncertainty, and determinacy.

Avoid when

• Avoid for a bare standpoint assertion with no assigned value (use gmeow:StandpointClaim) or a raw sensor reading you want typed as such (gmeow:SensoryObservation); specialize further to gmeow:TemporalMeasurement or a spatial coordinate measurement where the slice provides one.

How to use

• Type the act gmeow:Measurement, make gmeow:observationResult a gmeow:ScalarQuantity (value + gmeow:hasUnit + gmeow:hasDeterminacy + gmeow:quantityUncertainty), and let domain slices deepen it with their own measurement subclasses and seeds.

Examples

• ex:tempReading a gmeow:Measurement; gmeow:observationResult ex:temp22.