Environmental Information Perception, Analysis and Communication with the Aid of Natural Language Processing

Abstract

The perception of environmental information (EI) and the way that it is structured within Environmental Information Portals (EIP) are of major importance for the design of such information systems. The present paper investigates the concepts of air quality perception and applies natural language processing for developing a framework of concepts, phrases, patterns, collocations, and metaphors around an air quality ontology. The results reveal the frequency of appearance and the relations between basic terms, thus reflecting domain perception, and the collocations that underline ontology structures. It is therefore made evident that natural language processing may be used for the analysis of EI perception and communication and for supporting the design of EI systems.