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Published

river

vr.tr.river · thing-q4022

Let an agent handle rivers by name, course, flow, water quality, flood risk, uses and cultural significance.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.PLC
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Identity Which river.

Name

River.

Name

River identity.

  1. Which river, and through which countries? provenance
  2. What are its source and mouth? provenance

Size

Length and flow.

Size

Size.

  1. How long is it, and what is its discharge? measurement
  2. From which source? provenance
Hazards Floods and safety.

Flood

Warnings.

Flood

Flood warnings.

  1. Are flood warnings in force? provenance
  2. Which areas are at risk? boundary

Water safety

Drowning.

Water safety

Water safety.

  1. Is it safe to swim or paddle here? boundary
  2. What should be done if someone falls in? action
Quality Ecology.

Status

Water quality.

Status

Water quality.

  1. What is its ecological and chemical status? provenance
  2. Are there pollution alerts? provenance

Wildlife

Habitats.

Wildlife

Wildlife.

  1. Which species depend on it? definition
  2. Are they protected? provenance
People Uses and culture.

Uses

Water and transport.

Uses

Uses.

  1. How is the river used for water, navigation or energy? definition
  2. How is it shared between users? boundary

Culture

Sacred rivers.

Culture

Cultural significance.

  1. What cultural or religious significance does it have? provenance
  2. Is the description respectful? boundary

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
PHY
Domain
PHY.PLC
Other names and narrower kinds
border river, transboundary river, sacred river, entrenched river, gold river, former river, Cut-off, seasonal river, winterbourne, blackwater river, tidal river, exotic river

What it is Filled

A natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river, with a source, course, tributaries and mouth; rivers can form borders and many are sacred or culturally significant.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent handle rivers by name, course, flow, water quality, flood risk, uses and cultural significance.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Natural flowing water
  • Source, course and mouth
  • Drains a basin
  • Floods naturally

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Discharge waste or pollutants into a river.
  • Take water or alter a river's course without a permit.
  • Hide or delay flood warnings that people downstream need.
  • Disrespect a river that a community holds sacred, such as by dumping in it.

Only with a human decision

  • Opening or closing dams, sluices or flood barriers.
  • Issuing flood warnings to the public.

May

  • Report river levels, flows and water quality from monitoring stations.
  • Plan routes and activities on or near a river within the rules for that river.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Rivers sustain people and ecosystems downstream; harm upstream travels.
  • Some rivers are sacred or hold legal personhood, and communities depend on them.

Who is affected

  • Downstream communities
  • River ecosystems and fish
  • Communities that hold it sacred

Owners Filled

Steward

The public: held in common; river basin authorities manage it.

Master systems

  • River basin and hydrological monitoring databases
  • Water abstraction licence registers

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q2221906 - registry parent class
  • Q2479431 - registry parent class
  • Q30092769 - registry parent class
  • Q355304 - registry parent class

related

  • watercourse and water body - category
  • drainage basin - area
  • flood - hazard
  • water law - rules

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.river
  • Wikidata: Q4022 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4022)
  • national water body id: river basin codes monitoring
  • GeoNames id: numeric id gazetteer

Direct properties required Filled

  • length: a few km to over 6500 km - major rivers such as the Nile and Amazon
  • discharge: under 1 to over 200000 m3/s - Amazon is the largest

Recognition required Filled

  • Named rivers with source and mouth
  • Tributaries and basins
  • Border and transboundary rivers
  • A channel of flowing water between banks, from streams to broad rivers.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • find source, course and length
  • check flow and flood warnings
  • check water quality
  • plan safe recreation

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Floods
  • Drowning and cold water shock
  • Pollution
  • Disputes over shared rivers

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • EU Water Framework Directive
  • UN Watercourses Convention
  • National water and navigation law

Context of use required Filled

  • Water supply, ecosystems, transport, energy, recreation and culture.
  • perennial rivers
  • seasonal and intermittent rivers
  • braided and meandering rivers
  • transboundary rivers
  • former and underground rivers

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q4022: river - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: River - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should rivers be instances with identifiers?
  • How should basins be linked?
  • How should transboundary disputes be represented?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q4022/spec.json