The Destination Earth Platform Ontology is a formal semantic model developed to represent and describe the ecosystem of the Destination Earth Platform, a flagship initiative of the European Union aimed at creating a high-precision digital twin of planet Earth.
The ontology provides a conceptual framework for the integrated description of three fundamental domains:
(i) Geospatial and climate data resources, including satellite observations, in-situ measurements, computational model outputs, and IoT data;
(ii) The digital services and technological infrastructure of the platform;
(iii) The governance model, encompassing user management, tenancy, and computational resources.
The Destination Earth Platform Ontology extends the W3C DCAT 3 (Data Catalog Vocabulary) standard and integrates well-established vocabularies such as Dublin Core Terms, FOAF, PROV-O, and ODRL, ensuring interoperability with European data catalogues and compliance with DCAT-AP 3.0.0 profiles.
The hierarchical structure enables intuitive navigation of the platform's information assets:
Program → ProgramSubset → Collection → Dataset → Product
Destination Earth (DestinE) is a flagship initiative of the European Union aimed at developing a high-precision digital twin of the Earth to support environmental monitoring, climate analysis, and evidence-based policy-making.
The DestinE Platform provides the core infrastructure for accessing, processing, and analysing vast amounts of geospatial and climate data from sources such as:
Copernicus programme · ECMWF · ESA
The Destination Earth Platform Ontology provides a formal semantic model to ensure interoperability, discoverability, and consistent cataloguing of the platform's data resources, services, and governance structures.
It extends the W3C DCAT 3 standard and integrates established vocabularies including:
Dublin Core · FOAF · PROV-O · ODRL
Ensuring compliance with DCAT-AP 3.0.0 profiles for European data portals.
| dc | <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> |
| dcat | <http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#> |
| dcatap | <https://semiceu.github.io/DCAT-AP/releases/3.0.0> |
| desp | <https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#> |
| foaf | <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> |
| legacy_adms | <https://www.w3.org/ns/legacy_adms#> |
| odrl | <http://www.w3.org/ns/odrl/2/> |
| org | <http://www.w3.org/ns/org#> |
| owl | <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> |
| prov | <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> |
| r5r | <https://data.europa.eu/r5r/> |
| rdf | <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> |
| rdfs | <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> |
| skos | <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> |
| terms | <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> |
| terms1 | <http://spdx.org/rdf/terms#> |
| xml | <http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace> |
| xsd | <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> |
The Destination Earth Platform Ontology provides a semantic framework for describing the core assets of the DestinE Platform: Datasets and Services.
Datasets are organised hierarchically from programmes down to individual products, reflecting how environmental and climate data are structured within major European initiatives.
Each dataset, characterised by spatial and temporal properties, is catalogued by the model within a taxonomy of seven dataset types:
Satellite observations · Computational models · In-situ measurements · IoT · Geospatial models · Non-satellite observations · Statistical analyses
Each type includes domain-specific metadata.
Services represent the access points through which users discover and retrieve data. The ontology captures service metadata, endpoints, usage quotas, and licensing information.
Services are aggregated into a DataPortfolio that provides a unified catalogue of platform offerings.
The model extends DCAT 3 and integrates standard vocabularies:
Dublin Core · FOAF · PROV-O
Ensuring interoperability with European data portals and compliance with DCAT-AP 3.0.0 specifications.
IRI: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Agent
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#AllocatedResource
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#AuxiliaryData
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#AuxiliaryParameter
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Collection
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#ComputationalModelDataset
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#DataService
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#DataPortfolio
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#Dataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Dataset
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#DatasetSeries
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#DestinEPlatformAdministrator
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#Distribution
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#DynamicMetric
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#GeospatialModelsDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#InSituMeasurementsDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#InstantiatedMetric
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#IoTDataset
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns#Kind
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/LicenseDocument
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#NonSatelliteObservationsDataset
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/PeriodOfTime
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Person
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Process
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#ProcessParameters
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Product
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Program
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#ProgramSubset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Project
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#RegisteredEntity
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#RegisteredServiceProvider
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#RegisteredUser
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#ResourceOffer
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#SatelliteObservationsDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Service
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#SpatialProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#StatisticalAnalysisDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#TemporalProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Tenancy
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#TenancyResourceOffer
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#TermsAndConditions
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#UnregisteredUser
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#Variable
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#accessURL
IRI: http://data.europa.eu/r5r/applicableLegislation
IRI: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/based_near
IRI: http://spdx.org/rdf/terms#checksum
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#compressFormat
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#consumes
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#contactPoint
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#crs
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#dataset
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#distribution
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#downloadURL
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#endpointURL
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/format
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasAdmin
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasAllocatedResource
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasAuxiliaryParameter
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasDataPortfolio
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasDynamicMetric
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2006/vcard/ns#hasEmail
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasInstantiatedMetric
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasMember
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasParticipant
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/odrl/2/hasPolicy
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasProcessParameter
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasProduct
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasProductSpatialProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasProductTemporalProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasProject
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasResourceOffer
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasSpatialProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasTemporalProperty
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasTenancyResourceOffer
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasTermsAndConditions
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#hasVariable
IRI: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/homepage
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#inSeries
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isAllocatedResourceOffer
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isConsumedBy
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isDataPortfolioOf
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isInProgram
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isInProgramSubset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isProcessedBy
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isProductProcessedBy
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isProductResultOf
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isResultOf
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isTenancyOf
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#landingPage
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/license
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#mediaType
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#packageFormat
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resourceProvisioningType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resourceType
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/rights
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#servesDataset
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/spatial
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/adms#status
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#usesDataset
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#usesMandatoryAuxData
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#usesOptionalAuxData
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#category
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#classification
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#classificationSystem
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#collectionMethod
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#dataSensor
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#dataSource
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#dependenciesLinkedData
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#derivedProduct
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#deviceIdentification
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#dynamicResource
IRI: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/familyName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#geospatialModelsType
IRI: http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#isUpdatable
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#key
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#lastUpdate
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#measurementInstrument
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#modelComplexity
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#modelName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#modelType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#modelVersion
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#persistencyOnService
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#physicalQuantity
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#platformName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#processName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#processType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#processingLevel
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#projectionType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#quantity
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#quantityMax
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#quantityMin
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resolutionTag
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resourceDataType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resourceTenancyType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#resourceUnit
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#revisionDate
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#sector
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#sensor
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#sensorName
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#sensorType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#serviceCategory
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#spatialExtent
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#spatialRepresentation
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#spatialType
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#stepValue
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#temporalMax
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#temporalMin
IRI: http://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#temporalResolution
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#temporalStepValue
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#timeLabel
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#unit
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#userProfile
IRI: https://ontology.destine.eu/desp#userSector
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#inScheme
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#maxCardinality
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#minQualifiedCardinality
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#prefLabel
IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespacePrefix
IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespaceUri
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#qualifiedCardinality
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#versionInfo
The platform is composed of an Infrastructure layer
and a set of desp:Service instances.
Services are conceptually grouped into two categories:
Platform Management Services (PMS), the trusted, unique
pillars enabling other services to integrate with the platform, and
Data Management Services (DMS), which expose data and
applications to consumers and are driven by user demand. The block diagram
below illustrates the current instantiation; the authoritative architectural
description is maintained in the DestinE Platform
System Design Document and Master ICD
(DEST-SRCO-DD-2300317, Section 4).
The Platform Management Services in the current platform instantiation are:
Refer to the SDD for the description of each service.
Note on abstraction levels. desp:Service is a
class of this ontology; PMS and DMS are
conceptual categories used to group concrete services
according to their role in the ecosystem. They are not modelled as
distinct ontology classes: all services share the same
desp:Service class definition. The components shown in the
diagram are instances of desp:Service
in the current platform deployment and are subject to change without
affecting the conceptual model defined here.