| This query service aims to explain the reasoning behind the assertion of knowledge statements in the context of the ontology. Assertions are associated with certainty information, information about the sources that contributed to the assertion of the statement, and a natural language textual representation of the reason for the assertion. This service retrieves the reason for the assertion of information about a particular entity. In the case of predefined knowledge statements (i.e. statements defined in the context of the original ontology), the reason will be of the form ('That is what I was told'), but in the case of derived knowleedge (either internally- or externally-derived), the reason will be more complex and incorporate knowledge-rich contingencies that inhere in the problem domain, e.g. 'seaquake is a type of hazardous phenomenon because it can cause tsunamis, which can be a potential threat to human life, health and property. A tsunami is therefore a type of hazardous phenomenon. Anything that can cause a hazardous phenomenon is also a type of hazardous phenomenon. |