What question did this study set out to answer?

To develop a metadata standard that promotes the FAIR principles for near-surface geophysical data usage.

April 29, 2026Open Access

Multifunctional data in a multifunctional landscape – Development of an ontology-based metadata description of near-surface geophysical data

JRJohannes Rabiger-Völlmer TSTill Sonnemann CSClaudia SchuetzeGerman Environment Agency

Key Points

To develop a metadata standard that promotes the FAIR principles for near-surface geophysical data usage.
Development of an ontology-based metadata description
Utilization of existing standards within NFDI consortia
Collaborative effort among FAIRagro, NFDI4Objects, and NFDI4Earth
Enhanced findability and accessibility of geophysical data
Improved interoperability among data sources
Facilitation of data reuse in agricultural and archaeological contexts

Abstract

Near-surface geophysical methods are used to characterise soil properties on agricultural sites and are also useful inproviding information on archaeological features and soil dynamics. Metadata standards are essential for making data reusable and interoperable, as well as facilitating its findability andaccessibility, which goes in line with the FAIR principles. The aim of use case is therefore to develop a metadata standard that will later be made available as a tool for datacollection in order to implement the FAIR principles in practice and enable interchangeability. Developed as a joint initiative within the NFDI consortia FAIRagro, NFDI4Objects and NFDI4Earth (Werban et al., 2025)

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