Environmental Data Coding Specification (EDCS)

3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1 Table of contents

3.2 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply:

3.2.1
attribute
one of the data types whose instances provide values that taken together specify the state of an environmental object

3.2.2
base quantity
quantity in a conventionally chosen subset of a given system of quantities, where no quantity in the subset can be expressed in terms of the other quantities within that subset
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.4]

NOTE 1    The subset mentioned in the definition is termed the "set of base quantities".

NOTE 2    Base quantities are referred to as being mutually independent since a base quantity cannot be expressed as a product of powers of the other base quantities.

NOTE 3    'Number of entities' can be regarded as a base quantity in any system of quantities.

3.2.3
base unit
measurement unit that is adopted by convention for a base quantity
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.10]

NOTE 1    In each coherent system of units, there is only one base unit for each base quantity.

EXAMPLE 1 In the SI, the metre is the base unit of length. In the CGS systems, the centimetre is the base unit of length.

NOTE 2    A base unit may also serve for a derived quantity of the same quantity dimension.

EXAMPLE 2 The derived quantity rainfall, when defined as areic volume (volume per area), has the metre as a coherent derived unit in the SI.

NOTE 3    For number of entities, the number one, symbol 1, can be regarded as a base unit in any system of units.

3.2.4
Basic Latin character
character from U+0020 to U+007E
[ISO/IEC 10646:2012]

3.2.5
Basic Latin string
string consisting of Basic Latin characters

3.2.6
classification
information defining the type of an object

3.2.7
code
compact and not necessarily human-understandable designator that is used to denote a concept

3.2.8
coherent derived unit
derived unit that, for a given system of quantities and for a chosen set of base units, is a product of powers of base units with no other proportionality factor than one
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.12]

NOTE 1    A power of a base unit is the base unit raised to an exponent.

NOTE 2    Coherence can be determined only with respect to a particular system of quantities and a given set of base units.

EXAMPLE If the metre, the second, and the mole are base units, the metre per second is the coherent derived unit of velocity when velocity is defined by the quantity equation v = dr/dt and the mole per cubic metre is the coherent derived unit of amount-of-substance concentration when amount-of-substance concentration is defined by the quantity equation c = n/V. The kilometre per hour and the knot are not coherent derived units in such a system of quantities.

NOTE 3    The coherent derived unit for every derived quantity of dimension one in a given system of units is the number one, symbol 1. The name and symbol of the measurement unit one are generally not indicated.

3.2.9
coherent system of units
system of units, based on a given system of quantities, in which the measurement unit for each derived quantity is a coherent derived unit
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.14]

EXAMPLE Set of coherent SI units and relations between them.

NOTE    A system of units can be coherent only with respect to a system of quantities and the adopted base units.

3.2.10
derived quantity
quantity, in a system of quantities, defined in terms of the base quantities of that system
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.5]

EXAMPLE In a system of quantities having the base quantities length and mass, mass density is a derived quantity defined as the quotient of mass and volume (length to the power three).

3.2.11
derived unit
measurement unit for a derived quantity
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.6]

3.2.12
EDCS dictionary
set of entries of a similar nature each of which specifies a concept and includes a code, a label, and a concept definition as well as other concept-dependent information

3.2.13
enumerant
one of the possible values of an enumerated data type
[ECS]

3.2.14
environment
set of physical circumstances and/or conditions, including both natural and man-made phenomena

3.2.15
equivalent units
set of units of measurement that characterize the same physical quantity

3.2.16
group
one of the set of concepts that are members of an organizational schema

3.2.17
International System of Quantities
ISQ
system of quantities based on the seven base quantities: length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.6]

NOTE 1 This system of quantities is published in the ISO 80000 and IEC 80000 series Quantities and units, Parts 3 to 14.

NOTE 2 The International System of Units (SI) (see [ISO 80000-1:2009, item 3.16]) is based on the ISQ.

3.2.18
International System of Units
SI
system of units, based on the International System of Quantities, their names and symbols, including a series of prefixes and their names and symbols, together with rules for their use, adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM)
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.16]

NOTE 1 The SI is founded on the seven base quantities of the ISQ and the names and symbols of the corresponding base units, see [ISO 80000-1:2009, 6.5.2].

NOTE 2 The base units and the coherent derived units of the SI form a coherent set, designated the "set of coherent SI units".

NOTE 3 In quantity calculus, the quantity 'number of entities' is often considered to be a base quantity, with the base unit one, symbol 1.

3.2.19
label
human-understandable designator that is used to denote a concept

3.2.20
numerical value
a real number that represents a quantity

3.2.21
object
conceptual structure having both type and state

3.2.22
organizational schema
end result of a process of concept characterization, comprised of a set of groups of concepts

3.2.23
physical quantity
quantity that can be used in the mathematical equations of science and technology

3.2.24
quantity
property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed by means of a number and a reference
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.1]

3.2.25
state (of an object)
one of the possible modes of existence of an object as defined by the collective values of its attributes

3.2.26
symbol
short, scientific notation for a unit of measurement or a scale factor or both

3.2.27
system of quantities
set of quantities together with a set of non-contradictory equations relating those quantities
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.3]

NOTE Ordinal quantities (see [ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.26]), such as Rockwell C hardness, and nominal properties (see [ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.30]), such as colour of light, are usually not considered to be part of a system of quantities because they are related to other quantities through empirical relations only.

3.2.28
system of units
set of base units and derived units, together with their multiples and submultiples, defined in accordance with given rules, for a given system of quantities
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.13]

3.2.29
type (of an object)
essential aspects of an object that characterize and distinguish it from other objects

3.2.30
unit of measurement
measurement unit
unit
real scalar quantity, defined and adopted by convention, with which any other quantity of the same kind can be compared to express the ratio of the second quantity to the first one as a number
[ISO 80000-1:2009, 3.9]

3.2.31
value (of a physical quantity)
quantitative expression of a particular physical quantity as the pairing of a real number and a unit of measurement, the real number being called its numerical value

3.3 Abbreviated terms

Table 3.3 lists the abbreviated terms used in this International Standard except for those abbreviated terms used only in the construction of labels, which are listed in Annex G. In the specification of an abbreviation, the letters in the abbreviated term used to form the abbreviation are presented in upper-case and other letters are presented in lower-case with one exception. When the abbreviated term includes another abbreviation that is is used to form the abbreviation for that term, all the letters of the included abbreviation are presented in upper-case even if all of the letters are not used in the formed abbreviation.

http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/index.html