Context and Subjectivity in Semantic e-Science

The semantic web has proven invaluable in numerous Earth and space science applications. However, the underlying standards of the semantic web were not designed to address subjective knowledge. Such knowledge can be, and often is, prevalent in actively researched fields where multiple theories exist and one can examine data via a variety of methods. In this work, we present our ongoing efforts at capturing and working with subjective knowledge. Specifically, we combine provenance information with domain knowledge to create a context ontology. With such an ontology we begin to reason with multiple viewpoints and interpretations of data. Current status of the ontology and initial applications from the domain of space physics will be presented.