Environmental Data Coding Specification

3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms

3.1 Introduction

3.1.1 Table of contents

Table 3.1 — Table of contents

Table 3.2 — Table of tables

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 (3.2.19)

3.2.2
base quantity
one of a set of mutually independent quantities in terms of which other quantities can be defined and/or expressed as a product of powers of the base units and a real number 
[ISO 31-0: 1992, 2.2.5]

3.2.3
base units
units for the base quantities in a coherent system of units (3.2.8)
[ISO 31-0: 1992, 2.3.2.1]

3.2.4
Basic Latin character
character from U+0020 to U+007E 
[ISO 10646-1]

3.2.5
Basic Latin string
string consisting of Basic Latin characters (3.2.4)

3.2.6
classification
information defining the type of an object (3.2.19)

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

3.2.8
coherent system of units
system of units chosen in such a way that equations between numerical values (3.2.18) have exactly the same form (including the numerical values) as the corresponding equations between the quantities
[ISO 31-0: 1992, 2.3.1]

3.2.9
coherent unit
one of the units in a coherent system of units (3.2.8)
[ISO 31-0: 1992, 2.3.1]

3.2.10
derived units
units in a coherent system of units (3.2.8) that can be expressed in terms of the base units (3.2.3) by an algebraic expression
[ISO 31-0:1992, 2.3.1]

3.2.11
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

3.2.12
enumerant
one of the possible values of an enumerated data type 
[ECS]

3.2.13
environment
set of physical circumstances and/or conditions, including both natural and man-made phenomena

3.2.14
equivalent units
set of units of measure (see 3.2.26) that characterize the same physical quantity (3.2.21)

3.2.15
group
one of the set of concepts that are members of an organizational schema (3.2.20)

3.2.16
International System of Units
SI
coherent system of units (3.2.8), which includes seven base units (3.2.3) together with derived units (3.2.10)
[ISO 31-0]

3.2.17
label
human-understandable designator that is used to denote a concept

3.2.18
numerical value
a real number that represents a quantity (3.2.22)

3.2.19
object
conceptual structure having both type (3.2.25) and state (3.2.23)

3.2.20
organizational schema
end result of a process of concept characterization, comprised of a set of groups of concepts

3.2.21
physical quantity
quantity (3.2.22) that can be used in the mathematical equations of science and technology

3.2.22
quantity
property ascribed to phenomena, bodies, and/or substances that can be used to specify either the size, the amount, or the extent of a particular phenomenon, body, and/or substance

3.2.23
state (of an object)
one of the possible modes of existence of an object (3.2.19) as defined by the collective values of its attributes (3.2.1)

3.2.24
symbol
short, scientific notation for a unit of measure (3.2.26) or a scale factor or both

3.2.25
type (of an object)
essential aspects of an object (3.2.19) that characterize and distinguish it from other objects

3.2.26
unit of measure
reference quantity chosen from a category of mutually comparable physical quantities (3.2.21)
[ISO 31-0:1992, 2.1]

3.2.27
value (of a physical quantity)
quantitative expression of a particular physical quantity (3.2.21) as the pairing of a real number and a unit of measure (3.2.26), the real number being called its numerical value (3.2.18)

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.

Table 3.3 — Abbreviated terms

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