Making marine image data FAIR

Abstract

Underwater images are used to explore and monitor ocean habitats, generating huge datasets with unusual data characteristics that preclude traditional data management strategies. Due to the lack of universally adopted data standards, image data collected from the marine environment are increasing in heterogeneity, preventing objective comparison. The extraction of actionable information thus remains challenging, particularly for researchers not directly involved with the image data collection. Standardized formats and procedures are needed to enable sustainable image analysis and processing tools, as are solutions for image publication in long-term repositories to ascertain reuse of data. The FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) provide a framework for such data management goals. We propose the use of image FAIR Digital Objects (iFDOs) and present an infrastructure environment to create and exploit such FAIR digital objects. We show how these iFDOs can be created, validated, managed and stored, and which data associated with imagery should be curated. The goal is to reduce image management overheads while simultaneously creating visibility for image acquisition and publication efforts.

Fig. 1

Setup of image FAIR Digital Objects. Key information and image data is stored in a dedicated infrastructure (yellow squares). iFDOs only contain persistent identifiers to those external information resources. Additionally, specific metadata for marine imaging use-cases is stored inside the iFDO files. iFDOs consist of three sections: (1) the required core part which includes the persistent identifiers as well as licensing information; (2) the recommended capture part that addresses the technical heterogeneity of image acquisition; and the (3) the optional content part that captures semantic information from within the images to address the heterogeneous nature of image data. Together, these three sections constitute one iFDO file. This file contains header information on the entire image data set as well as detailed information on each image item within a defined set of images.

Fig. 2

Creating an iFDO. Marine image acquisition is guided by OceanBestPractices and creates raw image data and raw position data (for in-situ imaging). Multiple processing steps (blue boxes) create derived data products (green boxes) that are ultimately merged by an iFDO factory process to one iFDO file (green circle).

Fig. 3

Creation and progression of an iFDO (green circles) and its derived versions. The left part shows how an iFDO uses persistent identifiers to reference itself within the FAIR infrastructure. The middle part shows how iFDO files can be discovered, shared, advertised, and validated. The right part shows how implementing iFDO-compliant APIs to marine science tools facilitates reuse of image data for arbitrary purposes.