Article (refereed) -postprint Tagging of Environmental Data Using a Novel Skos Formatted Environmental Thesaurus [in Special Issue: Semantic E-sciences] Earth Title: Automated Tagging of Environmental Data Using a Novel Skos Formatted 2 Environmental Thesaurus. 3 4

The NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Abstract 18 There is increasing need to use the widest range of data to address issues of environmental 19 management and change, which is reflected in increasing emphasis from government 20 funding agencies for better management and access to environmental data. Bringing 21 together different environmental datasets to confidently enable integrated analysis requires 22 reference to common standards and definitions, which are frequently lacking in 23 environmental data, due to the broad subject area and lack of metadata. Automatic 24 inclusion within datasets of controlled vocabulary concepts from publicly available standard 25 vocabularies facilitates accurate annotation and promotes efficiency of metadata creation. 26 To this end, we have developed a thesaurus capable of describing environmental chemistry 27 datasets. We demonstrate a novel method for tagging datasets, via insertion of this 28 thesaurus into a Laboratory Information Management System, enabling automated tagging 29 of data, thus promoting semantic interoperability between tagged data resources. Being web 30 available, and formatted using the Simple Knowledge Organisation System (SKOS) 31 semantic standard, this thesaurus is capable of providing links both to and from other 32 relevant thesauri, thus facilitating a linked data approach. Future developments will see 33 extension of the thesaurus by the user community, in terms of both concepts included and 34 links to externally hosted vocabularies. By employing a Linked Open Data approach, we 35 anticipate that Web-based tools will be able to use concepts from the thesaurus to discover 36 and link data to other information sources, including use in national assessment of the extent 37 and condition of environmental resources. 38 39 40 41