For Developers

Controlled Vocabularies

Excel files containing controlled vocabularies employed by PetDB are available for download at the links below.
Downloadable files are updated periodically.

PetDB
chemical items
methods

Web Services

PetDB's Web Feature Service (WFS) allows any OGC-enabled client to access the analytical data for samples in PetDB.   To access the PetDB WFS specify the following URL to your OGC-enabled client: 

http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/mapserver/wfs/petdbora?&Service=WFS&Request=GetCapabilities

EarthChem XML

The EarthChem Portal serves PetDB data published in a standard XML and served via XML-based web services.

An XML schema has been developed as part of the EarthChem project to publish Geochemical data. The schema includes metadata such as location, reference, etc., chemical data, and controlled vocabularies (ontologies) for validation. The schema and an abbreviated graphical representation are available on-line at the following URLs.
http://geoportal.kgs.ku.edu/earthchem/schema/earthchem_schema.xsd
Download diagram of XML schema (JPG 976KB)

Data Model

Currently, PetDB's database structure is an improved version of the original data model (Lehnert et al. 2000).

Download PetDBv.1.4.2 Schema (PDF 52KB)

The Geoinformatics for Geochemistry program has recently developed a more generic, integrative, and flexible model for geochemical data, the GeoChemical Data Model GCDM, to serve as the core data structure for our entire suite of geochemical databases (Djapic, Vinayagamoorthy, & Lehnert 2006). This data model is compliant with standards defined in GeoSciML, a markup language developed by the IUGS Commission for Geoscience Information to represent Geoscience information associated with geologic maps and observations. Attributes in GCDM such as method, sample and item measured can be mapped to corresponding types within GeoSciML, others like observation point or observed value can be incorporated into the GeoSciML concepts of method, event, and measured value.

The primary new capabilities of the GCDM include:

  • description of spatial and temporal components of samples and measurements (e.g. depth in core, time-series and sensor measurements, point analyses on a microprobe slide);
  • capability to store 'derived' (model) types of observed values such as age models for cores or end-member compositions for seafloor hydrothermal springs;
  • capability to track relationships between samples and sub-samples,
  • ability to integrate data at any level of sample granularity;
  • capability to accommodate analytical metadata at the level of individual measurements.

Download the document "Serving Geochemical Data Using GeoSciML Compliant Web Services: Next Step in Developing a Generic GeoChemical Database" (DOC 32KB).
View the abstract, slideshow, and webcast: "New approach to Designing Geochemical Databases" presented at the Geoinformatics 2006 conference.