OBIScodes

OBISCodes are standardized codes used within the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) to represent discrete data concepts in marine biodiversity records. They form part of OBIS’s data standards, enabling consistent data discovery, integration, and analysis across international datasets. OBISCodes cover several domains, including taxonomy (taxon concepts and accepted names), geography (area and gazetteer codes for sampling locations and biogeographic regions), sampling and methods (sampling methods and gear types), and measurement or observation (variable names and units), as well as data quality or provenance flags. Each code corresponds to a predefined term in the OBIS vocabulary and is used in data exchange formats and metadata to ensure interoperability with other marine data infrastructures.

The codes are maintained by the OBIS community, often through working groups and in collaboration with partner organizations. Changes are documented in OBIS vocabulary releases and are accompanied by guides that map OBISCodes to related standards such as Darwin Core and other TDWG vocabularies. Users submit data to OBIS using these codes to annotate records, allowing data consumers to query datasets by taxon, region, sampling method, or observation type with greater precision. OBISCodes are designed to be extensible, enabling new codes to be added as knowledge advances and data collection practices evolve.

See also OBIS, Taxonomic Databases Working Group, Darwin Core, TDWG, biodiversity informatics.