Dalia E Varanka, PhD
Dr. Varanka, Research Physical Scientist, leads the Geospatial Semantics and Ontology project of the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science.
Dr. Varanka was a research assistant at The Field Museum of Natural History and later at The Newberry Library in Chicago. She started her Federal career at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 1993 and has been a Research Grade Evaluation (RGE) scientist since 1998 with the USGS National Geospatial Program. Dr. Varanka taught Geospatial Ontology and Semantics at Johns Hopkins University and is Chair of the Commission on Geospatial Semantics of the International Cartographic Association.
Science and Products
Use of Controlled Vocabularies in USGS Information Applications: Requirements Analysis for Automated Processes and Services (Bureau-wide Application)
Large online data catalogs use controlled vocabularies to categorize datasets in ways that allow end users to sort and select data matching their needs. The eventual goal of this project is to build functional services so that the USGS Thesaurus and other USGS-controlled vocabularies will be available to the English-speaking scientific community, especially within the USGS where they can...
Filter Total Items: 43
Grammar To Graph, an approach for semantic transformation of annotations to triples
Linguistic representation of geographic knowledge is semantically complex and particularly challenging when employing geographic information technology to automate interpreted analysis dealing with unstructured knowledge. This study describes an approach called GrammarToGraph (G2G) that applies dependency grammar rules through natural language processing to transform annotation data into...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka, Emily Abbott
Open knowledge network roadmap: Powering the next data revolution
Open access to shared information is essential for the development and evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered solutions needed to address the complex challenges facing the nation and the world. The Open Knowledge Network (OKN), an interconnected network of knowledge graphs, would provide an essential public-data infrastructure for enabling an AI-driven future. It would...
Authors
Chaitan Baru, Martin Halbert, Lara Campbell, Tess DeBlanc-Knowles, Jemin George, Wo Chang, Adam Pah, Douglas Maughan, Ilya Zaslavsky, Amanda Stathopoulos, Ellie Young, Kat Albrecht, Amit Sheth, Emanuel Sallinger, Katerine Osatuke, Angela Rizk-Jackson, Eric Jahn, Kenneth Berkowitz, Bandana Kar, Erica Smith, Krzystof Janowicz, Brian Handspicker, Esther Jackson, Lauren Sanders, Chengkai Li, Florence Hudson, Lilit Yeghiazarian, Cogan Shimizu, Glenn Ricart, Louiqa Raschid, Dalia E. Varanka, Greg Seaton, Luis Amaral, Oktie Hassanzadeh, Silviu Cucerzan, Matt Bishop, Ora Lassila, Sharat Israni, Matthew Lange, Pascal Hitzler, Ryan McGranaghan, Michael Cafarella, Paul Wormeli, Todd Bacastow, Sam Klein, Murat Omay, Sergio Baranzini, Ying Ding, Nariman Ammar
A geospatial knowledge graph prototype for national topographic mapping
Knowledge graphs are a form of database representation and handling that show the potential to better meet the challenges of data interoperability, semi-automated information reasoning, and information retrieval. Geospatial knowledge graphs (GKG) have at their core specialized forms of applied ontology that provide coherent spatial context to a domain of information including non-spatial...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
GeoAI in the US Geological Survey for topographic mapping
Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) can be defined broadly as the application of artificial intelligence methods and techniques to geospatial data, processes, models, and applications. The application of these methods to topographic data and phenomena is a focus of research in the US Geological Survey (USGS). Specifically, the USGS has researched and developed applications in...
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, Samantha Arundel, Ethan J. Shavers, Larry Stanislawski, Philip T. Thiem, Dalia E. Varanka
GIS object data properties
Data properties are characteristics of GIS attribute systems and values whose design and format impacts analytical and computational processing. Geospatial data are expressed at conceptual, logical, and physical levels of database abstraction intended to represent geographical information. The appropriate design of attribute systems and selection of properties should be logically...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Creating annotations for web ontology language ontology generated from relational databases
Many approaches that have been proposed that allow users to create a Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontology from a relational database fail to include metadata that are inherent to the database tables. Without metadata, the resulting ontology lacks annotation properties. These properties are key when performing ontology alignment. This paper proposes a method to include relevant metadata...
Authors
Matthew Edward Wagner, Tanner Edward Fry, Jacques Jules Bourquin, Dalia E. Varanka
Improving geospatial query performance of an interoperable geographic situation-awareness system (IGSAS) for disaster response
Disaster response operations require fast and coordinated actions based on the real-time disaster situation information. Although Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) or crowdsourced geospatial data applications have demonstrated to be valuable tools for gathering real-time disaster situation information, they only provide limited utility for disaster response coordination because of...
Authors
Chuanrong Zhang, Tian Zhao, E. Lynn Usery, Dalia E. Varanka, Weidong Li
A system design for implementing advanced feature descriptions for a map knowledge base
A prototype system to explore Linked Data that semantically integrates geospatial data in various formats from different publication sources with data from The National Map of the U.S. Geological Survey is presented. The focus is on accessing advanced feature descriptions for data from The National Map with data coreferenced from other sources. The prototype uses Geoserver to access The...
Authors
Matthew Wagner, Dalia E. Varanka, E. Lynn Usery
Integrating the sociology of space with geospatial semantics relation properties for data graphs
This research posits that socially constructed spatial relations address concepts of interactions instead of intersections, human/tool agents instead of physical processes, and broader ranges of geographical outcomes. The hypothesis is that social space can be represented by using patterns of logic relations between sets of entities. The data corpus of spatial relations was extracted...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Alignment of surface water ontologies: A comparison of manual and automated approaches
More data are being collected about the world around us than ever before, but effectively using this information requires different data stores to be integrated in such a way that they can be seamlessly queried and analyzed. Automated alignment algorithms exist to facilitate this data integration challenge. In this paper we examine the utility of two current leading automated alignment...
Authors
Michelle Cheatham, Dalia E. Varanka, Fatima Arauz, Lu Zhou
Semantically supported linked data mapping
Semantic technology based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF) modeling environment has introduced new data management capabilities that can lead to innovative cartographic techniques. This report describes research toward more semantically expressive linked geospatial data mapping, topics of research, and an avenue for further international collaboration.
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Topographic mapping evolution: From field and photogrammetric data collection to GIS production and Linked Open Data
Whither the topographic map? Topographic mapping historically has been approached as a map factory operation through the period 1879-1990. During this time, data were field and photogrammetrically collected; cartographically verified and annotated creating a compilation manuscript; further edited, generalized, symbolized, and produced as a graphic output product using lithography, or...
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, Dalia E. Varanka, Larry Davis
Science and Products
Use of Controlled Vocabularies in USGS Information Applications: Requirements Analysis for Automated Processes and Services (Bureau-wide Application)
Large online data catalogs use controlled vocabularies to categorize datasets in ways that allow end users to sort and select data matching their needs. The eventual goal of this project is to build functional services so that the USGS Thesaurus and other USGS-controlled vocabularies will be available to the English-speaking scientific community, especially within the USGS where they can...
Filter Total Items: 43
Grammar To Graph, an approach for semantic transformation of annotations to triples
Linguistic representation of geographic knowledge is semantically complex and particularly challenging when employing geographic information technology to automate interpreted analysis dealing with unstructured knowledge. This study describes an approach called GrammarToGraph (G2G) that applies dependency grammar rules through natural language processing to transform annotation data into...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka, Emily Abbott
Open knowledge network roadmap: Powering the next data revolution
Open access to shared information is essential for the development and evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered solutions needed to address the complex challenges facing the nation and the world. The Open Knowledge Network (OKN), an interconnected network of knowledge graphs, would provide an essential public-data infrastructure for enabling an AI-driven future. It would...
Authors
Chaitan Baru, Martin Halbert, Lara Campbell, Tess DeBlanc-Knowles, Jemin George, Wo Chang, Adam Pah, Douglas Maughan, Ilya Zaslavsky, Amanda Stathopoulos, Ellie Young, Kat Albrecht, Amit Sheth, Emanuel Sallinger, Katerine Osatuke, Angela Rizk-Jackson, Eric Jahn, Kenneth Berkowitz, Bandana Kar, Erica Smith, Krzystof Janowicz, Brian Handspicker, Esther Jackson, Lauren Sanders, Chengkai Li, Florence Hudson, Lilit Yeghiazarian, Cogan Shimizu, Glenn Ricart, Louiqa Raschid, Dalia E. Varanka, Greg Seaton, Luis Amaral, Oktie Hassanzadeh, Silviu Cucerzan, Matt Bishop, Ora Lassila, Sharat Israni, Matthew Lange, Pascal Hitzler, Ryan McGranaghan, Michael Cafarella, Paul Wormeli, Todd Bacastow, Sam Klein, Murat Omay, Sergio Baranzini, Ying Ding, Nariman Ammar
A geospatial knowledge graph prototype for national topographic mapping
Knowledge graphs are a form of database representation and handling that show the potential to better meet the challenges of data interoperability, semi-automated information reasoning, and information retrieval. Geospatial knowledge graphs (GKG) have at their core specialized forms of applied ontology that provide coherent spatial context to a domain of information including non-spatial...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
GeoAI in the US Geological Survey for topographic mapping
Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) can be defined broadly as the application of artificial intelligence methods and techniques to geospatial data, processes, models, and applications. The application of these methods to topographic data and phenomena is a focus of research in the US Geological Survey (USGS). Specifically, the USGS has researched and developed applications in...
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, Samantha Arundel, Ethan J. Shavers, Larry Stanislawski, Philip T. Thiem, Dalia E. Varanka
GIS object data properties
Data properties are characteristics of GIS attribute systems and values whose design and format impacts analytical and computational processing. Geospatial data are expressed at conceptual, logical, and physical levels of database abstraction intended to represent geographical information. The appropriate design of attribute systems and selection of properties should be logically...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Creating annotations for web ontology language ontology generated from relational databases
Many approaches that have been proposed that allow users to create a Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontology from a relational database fail to include metadata that are inherent to the database tables. Without metadata, the resulting ontology lacks annotation properties. These properties are key when performing ontology alignment. This paper proposes a method to include relevant metadata...
Authors
Matthew Edward Wagner, Tanner Edward Fry, Jacques Jules Bourquin, Dalia E. Varanka
Improving geospatial query performance of an interoperable geographic situation-awareness system (IGSAS) for disaster response
Disaster response operations require fast and coordinated actions based on the real-time disaster situation information. Although Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) or crowdsourced geospatial data applications have demonstrated to be valuable tools for gathering real-time disaster situation information, they only provide limited utility for disaster response coordination because of...
Authors
Chuanrong Zhang, Tian Zhao, E. Lynn Usery, Dalia E. Varanka, Weidong Li
A system design for implementing advanced feature descriptions for a map knowledge base
A prototype system to explore Linked Data that semantically integrates geospatial data in various formats from different publication sources with data from The National Map of the U.S. Geological Survey is presented. The focus is on accessing advanced feature descriptions for data from The National Map with data coreferenced from other sources. The prototype uses Geoserver to access The...
Authors
Matthew Wagner, Dalia E. Varanka, E. Lynn Usery
Integrating the sociology of space with geospatial semantics relation properties for data graphs
This research posits that socially constructed spatial relations address concepts of interactions instead of intersections, human/tool agents instead of physical processes, and broader ranges of geographical outcomes. The hypothesis is that social space can be represented by using patterns of logic relations between sets of entities. The data corpus of spatial relations was extracted...
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Alignment of surface water ontologies: A comparison of manual and automated approaches
More data are being collected about the world around us than ever before, but effectively using this information requires different data stores to be integrated in such a way that they can be seamlessly queried and analyzed. Automated alignment algorithms exist to facilitate this data integration challenge. In this paper we examine the utility of two current leading automated alignment...
Authors
Michelle Cheatham, Dalia E. Varanka, Fatima Arauz, Lu Zhou
Semantically supported linked data mapping
Semantic technology based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF) modeling environment has introduced new data management capabilities that can lead to innovative cartographic techniques. This report describes research toward more semantically expressive linked geospatial data mapping, topics of research, and an avenue for further international collaboration.
Authors
Dalia E. Varanka
Topographic mapping evolution: From field and photogrammetric data collection to GIS production and Linked Open Data
Whither the topographic map? Topographic mapping historically has been approached as a map factory operation through the period 1879-1990. During this time, data were field and photogrammetrically collected; cartographically verified and annotated creating a compilation manuscript; further edited, generalized, symbolized, and produced as a graphic output product using lithography, or...
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, Dalia E. Varanka, Larry Davis