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The Spatiotemporal module of the Life Cycle Assessment Network Ontology (LCAnet).
- This version:
- https://w3id.org/lcanet/st/2.2.0
- Latest version:
- https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#
- Previous version:
- 2.1.0
- Revision:
- 2.2.0
- Issued on:
- 2026-05-20
- Authors:
- Fatima Danash, CEA List
- Publisher:
- https://www.cea.fr
- Download serialization:
- License:
- Visualization:
- Cite as:
- Danash, F., et al. (2026). LCAnet: A Modular Ontology Network for Life Cycle Assessment (Version 2.2.0).
Ontology Specification Draft
Abstract
LCAnet is a modular ontology network for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) designed to provide a unified semantic framework for representing LCA systems. It is composed of six interoperable modules covering key aspects of LCA modeling: the Core module, Activity module, Actor module, Property module, Spatiotemporal module, and Impact Assessment module. The Core module serves as the central backbone of the network by importing the other modules and establishing explicit semantic links across all components, enabling consistent representation and reasoning over LCA data.Introduction back to ToC
LCAnet-Spatiotemporal provides classes and properties that enable users to model spatial and temporal aspects of Life Cycle Assessment systems. It represents locations, spatial scales, and temporal entities associated with activities. The module provides contextual information for LCA modelling and is connected to other LCAnet modules through the Core ontology.Namespace declarations
| dc | <http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/> |
| dcterms | <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> |
| gn | <http://www.geonames.org/ontology#> |
| owl | <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> |
| rdf | <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> |
| rdfs | <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> |
| schema | <https://schema.org/> |
| st | <https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#> |
| time | <http://www.w3.org/2006/time#> |
| vann | <http://purl.org/vocab/vann/> |
| wgs84_pos | <http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#> |
| xml | <http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace> |
| xsd | <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> |
LCAnet-Spatiotemporal: Overview back to ToC
This ontology has the following classes and properties.Classes
- Administrative Region
- GeoPoint
- Global Scale
- Local Scale
- Location
- National Scale
- Regional Scale
- Site
- Spatial Scale
Object Properties
- has coordinates
- has Duration
- has duration
- has location
- has spatial scale
- has temporal extent
- has temporal resolution
- in region
- located in
- occurs at
- valid during
Annotation Properties
LCAnet-Spatiotemporal: Description back to ToC
The Spatiotemporal module is part of the LCAnet ontology proposed by the SmartACV Carnot Project. It provides a formal representation of spatial and temporal aspects relevant to the LCA process, enabling the modeling and integration of location- and time-specific data for products or services. For the temporal aspect, it reuses classes and properties by importing the Time ontology: Time instant, Time interval, and DurationDescription. For the spatial aspect, it aligns with some pre-defined classes from other ontologies such as the Feature class from the geonames vocabulary.Cross-reference for LCAnet-Spatiotemporal classes, object properties and data properties back to ToC
This section provides details for each class and property defined by LCAnet-Spatiotemporal.Classes
- Administrative Region
- GeoPoint
- Global Scale
- Local Scale
- Location
- National Scale
- Regional Scale
- Site
- Spatial Scale
Administrative Regionc back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#AdministrativeRegion
A political or administrative territorial unit, such as a country, state, province, or city. Aligns with schema:AdministrativeArea and gn:Feature.
- has super-classes
- Administrative Area c, Location c
- is in range of
- in region op, located in op
- is disjoint with
- Site c, Spatial Scale c
GeoPointc back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#GeoPoint
A geographic point aligned with WGS84 Point concept.
- has super-classes
- Point c
- is in range of
- has coordinates op
Global Scalec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#GlobalScale
A spatial scale representing the entire planet or worldwide extent.
- has super-classes
- Spatial Scale c
Local Scalec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#LocalScale
A spatial scale representing a localized geographic area, such as a site or municipality level.
- has super-classes
- Spatial Scale c
Locationc back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#Location
A general spatial entity representing any identifiable place or geographic feature. Equivalent to schema:Place and gn:Feature.
- has super-classes
- Feature c, Place c, Spatial Thing c
- has sub-classes
- Administrative Region c, Site c
- is in domain of
- has coordinates op, located in op
- is in range of
- has location op
National Scalec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#NationalScale
A spatial scale representing the extent of a single country.
- has super-classes
- Spatial Scale c
Regional Scalec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#RegionalScale
A spatial scale representing a region, such as a province, state, or aggregated geographic area.
- has super-classes
- Spatial Scale c
Sitec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#Site
A specific location associated with an activity, facility, installation, or process. Examples: LCA process site, production site, waste treatment site.
- has super-classes
- Location c
- is disjoint with
- Administrative Region c, Spatial Scale c
Spatial Scalec back to ToC or Class ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#SpatialScale
A classification of the level of spatial granularity applied in an LCA study, such as global, national, regional, or local scale. Used for specifying the spatial resolution of data or impacts.
- has sub-classes
- Global Scale c, Local Scale c, National Scale c, Regional Scale c
- is in range of
- has spatial scale op
- is disjoint with
- Administrative Region c, Site c
Object Properties
- has coordinates
- has Duration
- has duration
- has location
- has spatial scale
- has temporal extent
- has temporal resolution
- in region
- located in
- occurs at
- valid during
has coordinatesop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasCoordinates
Associates a location with a geographic point defined by WGS84 latitude and longitude.
has Durationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: http://www.w3.org/2006/time#hasDuration
- has equivalent properties
- has duration op
has durationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasDuration
Specifies the duration of a temporal entity such as a process or interval. Directly corresponds to time:hasDuration.
- has equivalent properties
- has Duration op
- has domain
- Temporal Entity c
- has range
- Duration Description c
has locationop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasLocation
Relates an entity to a geographic location (Administrative Region or Site) where it takes place or exists.
has spatial scaleop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasSpatialLocation
Indicates the level of spatial granularity (e.g., global, national, regional, local) at which a location or LCA dataset is defined.
- has domain
- Thing c
- has range
- Spatial Scale c
has temporal extentop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasTemporalExtent
Relates an entity to the time interval during which it exists, occurs, or is valid. Aligned with time:Interval.
has temporal resolutionop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#hasTemporalResolution
Indicates the temporal granularity or resolution at which data or observations are aggregated or reported (e.g., hourly, monthly, yearly).
- has domain
- Thing c
- has range
- Duration Description c
in regionop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#inRegion
Relates any entity (e.g., process, facility, emission) to an administrative region where it occurs or is assessed.
- has domain
- Thing c
- has range
- Administrative Region c
located inop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#locatedIn
Indicates that a location is contained within an administrative region (not a Site), such as a city located in a province or country.
- has domain
- Location c
- has range
- Administrative Region c
occurs atop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#occursAt
Relates an event or process to a specific temporal instant. Aligns conceptually with time:Instant.
valid duringop back to ToC or Object Property ToC
IRI: https://w3id.org/lcanet/st#validDuring
Indicates the temporal interval for which a dataset, measurement, or assessment is valid.
Annotation Properties
- creator
- date
- description
- issued
- license
- preferred Namespace Prefix
- preferred Namespace Uri
- publisher
- title
creatorap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator
dateap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/date
descriptionap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/description
issuedap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/issued
licenseap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/license
preferred Namespace Prefixap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespacePrefix
preferred Namespace Uriap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/vocab/vann/preferredNamespaceUri
publisherap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/publisher
titleap back to ToC or Annotation Property ToC
IRI: http://purl.org/dc/terms/title
Legend back to ToC
c: Classes
op: Object Properties
op: Object Properties
References back to ToC
Add your references here. It is recommended to have them as a list.null
Acknowledgments back to ToC
The authors would like to thank Silvio Peroni for developing LODE, a Live OWL Documentation Environment, which is used for representing the Cross Referencing Section of this document and Daniel Garijo for developing Widoco, the program used to create the template used in this documentation.