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The Synthesis And Structural Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Having Catalytic Applications, Stacey Janel Smith Jul 2012

The Synthesis And Structural Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Having Catalytic Applications, Stacey Janel Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Nanotechnology is blossoming into one of the premiere technologies of this century, but the key to its progress lies in developing more efficient nanosynthesis methods. Variations in synthetic technique, however, can cause variations in size, structure, and surface characteristics, thereby altering the physical properties and functionality of the particles. Careful structural characterizations are thus essential for understanding the properties and appropriate applications for particles produced by new synthetic techniques.In this work, a new ‘solvent-deficient’ method is presented for the synthesis of an unprecedentedly wide range of metal oxide nanomaterials including at least one metal oxide from each group in Groups …

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Science Self-Efficacy And School Transitions: Elementary School To Middle School And Middle School To High School, Brandi Lue Lofgran Jul 2012

Science Self-Efficacy And School Transitions: Elementary School To Middle School And Middle School To High School, Brandi Lue Lofgran

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the science self-efficacy beliefs of students before and after transitions from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school. The purpose was to explore whether those beliefs changed with grade level, gender, and ethnicity. Data were collected through a modified Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (Muris, 2001), which was adapted to focus on science self-efficacy. Multiple ordinary least squares regression was used to analyze the data. All grade levels showed a clear decline in science self-efficacy after sixth grade with females, Hispanic students, and ninth graders showing the greatest decline in science self-efficacy.

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The Mediating Influence Of Child Self-Regulation On The Relationship Between Couple Attachment Security In Parents And Anxiety In Their Children, David P. Adamusko Jul 2012

The Mediating Influence Of Child Self-Regulation On The Relationship Between Couple Attachment Security In Parents And Anxiety In Their Children, David P. Adamusko

Theses and Dissertations

This two wave panel study examined child self-regulation as a potential mediator of the relationship between marital attachment security in parents and anxiety in their adolescent child. Data for this study were taken from the two parent families in waves three and four of the Flourishing Families project which included 335 two-parent families with children between the ages of 14 and 16. Both parents and child completed the Novak and Clayton (2001) Self-regulation Scale with the child's self-regulation as the target, and both husbands and wives completed a modified version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire (Fraley, Waller, & …

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Diversification And Conservation In The South American Dry Biomes: Distribution Modeling And Multilocus Lizard Phylogeography, Fernanda Werneck Jul 2012

Diversification And Conservation In The South American Dry Biomes: Distribution Modeling And Multilocus Lizard Phylogeography, Fernanda Werneck

Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of diversification of intraspecific lineages can shed light on speciation processes and ultimately biogeographic patterns across multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this dissertation I investigated the geographical and ecological factors promoting diversification across the South American dry diagonal biomes (i.e. Cerrado, Chaco, and Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests - SDTFs), through a coupled approach between multilocus phylogeographic and geospatial methods, in the larger context of interpreting the consequences of the resulting patterns for the conservation of biodiversity and evolutionary processes. In Chapter 1 I evaluate biogeographic hypotheses previously proposed and emphasize that the dry diagonal biomes are particularly …

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Healing The Cartesian Split: Understanding And Renewing Pathos In Academic Writing, Travis Washburn Jul 2012

Healing The Cartesian Split: Understanding And Renewing Pathos In Academic Writing, Travis Washburn

Theses and Dissertations

There have always been rogues who dared to go against the traditional "intellectual" writing style of science and academia, a style that seems bent on transcending the "merely personal." Those who take this risk are embracing the rhetorical tradition of pathos, one that goes as far back as Aristotle. Current academic trends support a genre devoid of pathos and lacking true ethos—a deviation from classic rhetoric, and one that supports the Cartesian split of mind-body dualism. Neurological studies done by Antonio Damasio and others suggest that a holistic view is a more accurate picture of how a human soul functions. …

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Knowledge Discovery For Biodiversity: From Data Mining To Sign Management, Noel Conruyt, David Grosser, Régine Vignes Lebbe Jul 2012

Knowledge Discovery For Biodiversity: From Data Mining To Sign Management, Noel Conruyt, David Grosser, Régine Vignes Lebbe

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Knowledge discovery from data in environmental sciences is becomingmore and more important nowadays because of the deluge of information found indatabases of digital ecosystems, coming altogether from institutions and amateurs.For example in biodiversity science, all these data need to be validated byspecialists with the help of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems(IEDSSs), then enhanced and certified into qualitative knowledge before reachingtheir audience. Data mining through classification or clustering is the dedicatedinductive process of grouping descriptions based on similarity measures, thenbuilding classes and naming them. Later, the formed concepts can be reused foridentification purpose with new observations. The problem is that when …

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Ecological Flow Analysis Of Network Collapse I: New Methodology To Investigate Network Collapse Dynamics, Brian D. Fath, Elena Rovenskaya, Victoria Veschinskaya, Ulf Dieckmann, Ake Brannström Jul 2012

Ecological Flow Analysis Of Network Collapse I: New Methodology To Investigate Network Collapse Dynamics, Brian D. Fath, Elena Rovenskaya, Victoria Veschinskaya, Ulf Dieckmann, Ake Brannström

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This research builds on standard ecological network analysis techniques in order to investigate the impact of removing species (nodes) on the remaining of the network species. The flow network is expressed as a system of dynamical equations such that the removal of one node has time-forward impacts on the remaining nodes. The approach allows one to determine the gain or loss experienced by each other compartment in the model and the time for such impact to occur. The general methodology is demonstrated on the Cone Spring Ecosystem. These results indicate that collapse of certain species exert more control on the …

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Assessing The Vulnerability Of Human And Biological Communities To Changing Ecosystem Services Using A Gis-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Support Tool, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, William B. Labiosa Jul 2012

Assessing The Vulnerability Of Human And Biological Communities To Changing Ecosystem Services Using A Gis-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Support Tool, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, William B. Labiosa

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this paper we describe an application of a GIS-based multi-criteria decision support web tool that models and evaluates relative changes in ecosystem services to policy and land management decisions. The Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio (SCWEPM) was designed to provide credible forecasts of responses to ecosystem drivers and stressors and to illustrate the role of land use decisions on spatial and temporal distributions of ecosystem services within a binational (U.S. and Mexico) watershed. We present two SCWEPM sub-models that when analyzed together address bidirectional relationships between social and ecological vulnerability and ecosystem services. The first model employs the Modified …

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Validation And Sensitivity Of A Coupled Model Tool For Cso Impact Assessment In Berlin, Germany, Mathias Riechel, Andreas Matzinger, Hauke Sonnenberg, Nicolas Caradot, Ilka Meier, B. Heinzmann, Pascale Rouault Jul 2012

Validation And Sensitivity Of A Coupled Model Tool For Cso Impact Assessment In Berlin, Germany, Mathias Riechel, Andreas Matzinger, Hauke Sonnenberg, Nicolas Caradot, Ilka Meier, B. Heinzmann, Pascale Rouault

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the city of Berlin combined sewer overflows (CSO) can lead to severedepressions in dissolved oxygen (DO) of receiving urban rivers and hence to acutestress for the local fish fauna. To quantify CSO impacts and optimize sewermanagement strategies, a model-based planning instrument has been developed.It couples the urban drainage model InfoWorks CS which simulates hydraulics andpollutant transport in the sewer with the river water quality model QSim whichsimulates hydraulics, mass transport and various biogeochemical processes in thereceiving water body. To identify simulated CSO impacts, concentration-durationfrequency-thresholds for DO are applied to river model results via an impactassessment tool. Two kinds of …

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Dm2: A Software Tool For Dredged Material Characterization And Management, Alla Khosrovyan, Araceli Rodríguez-Romero, T. Angel Delvalls, Inmaculada Riba Jul 2012

Dm2: A Software Tool For Dredged Material Characterization And Management, Alla Khosrovyan, Araceli Rodríguez-Romero, T. Angel Delvalls, Inmaculada Riba

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A new software tool - Decision Making on Dredged Material (DM2) - for dredged material quality assessment and management is developed. Based on Spanish recommendations for dredged material management of 2008, it analyzes different lines of evidence of sediment contamination by metals and organic micro-pollutants. Particularly, chemical load in sediments is compared to the admissible concentration limits of these contaminants as adopted in Spain; sediment toxicity is estimated based on the responses of organisms to contaminant exposure. Integrated assessment of the sediment quality is done by assigning categories from A to C depending on the severity of contamination. The same …

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How To Use New Online Monitoring Techniques To Improve River Water Quality Modeling At The River Reach Scale, Michael Rode, Uwe Kiwel Jul 2012

How To Use New Online Monitoring Techniques To Improve River Water Quality Modeling At The River Reach Scale, Michael Rode, Uwe Kiwel

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

High spatial and temporal resolution monitoring systems are needed to improve our knowledge on flow and matter transport pathways and substance transformation. The presentation will introduce a new online water quality monitoring system as part of the UFZ TERENO Hydrological Observatory “Bode” and show how this new information can improve river water quality modelling. Additional low flow measurement campaigns including delta 18O and delta 15N isotope analyses of nitrate have been used to identify denitrification processes on a selected lower river reach. It will be demonstrated how high resolution data can be used in combination with a process based river …

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Perceptual Modelling Of Environmental Indicators To Assess Land Uses Impacts On Water Quality, Nathalie Lalande, Flavie Cernesson, Marie-George Tournoud Jul 2012

Perceptual Modelling Of Environmental Indicators To Assess Land Uses Impacts On Water Quality, Nathalie Lalande, Flavie Cernesson, Marie-George Tournoud

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The stream functioning is closely influenced by land uses, along thestream itself and throughout the catchment. Land uses can be seen as both theexpression of the natural environment and the result of increasing human activities.Land uses generate various (in kind and intensity) pressures (positive or negative)that alter river water quality at different scales of time and space. The objective ofthis research is to conceptualize and quantify the interactions between river waterquality and land use through spatial modelling. Our methodology is based on (i) thedesign of a system of indicators using the DPSIR framework and (ii) thedevelopment of the relevant environmental …

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Quantifying Trade-Offs Between Bioenergy Production, Food Production, Water Quality And Water Quantity Aspects In A German Case Study, Sven Lautenbach, Martin Volk, Michael Strauch, Gerald Whittaker, Ralf Seppelt Jul 2012

Quantifying Trade-Offs Between Bioenergy Production, Food Production, Water Quality And Water Quantity Aspects In A German Case Study, Sven Lautenbach, Martin Volk, Michael Strauch, Gerald Whittaker, Ralf Seppelt

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Worldwide increasing bioenergy production is on the political agenda. It is well known that bioenergy production comes at a cost – several trade-offs with food production, water quality and quantity issues, biodiversity and ecosystem services are known but a quantification of these trade-offs is missing. Hence, we show in this study an analysis of trade-offs between bioenergy production, food production, water quality and water quantity aspects in the Parthe catchment in Central Germany. The analysis is based on using SWAT and a multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA II). The genetic algorithm is used to find Pareto-optimal configurations of crop rotation schemes. …

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Impact Of Species Parameter Uncertainty In Simulations Of Tree Species Migration With A Spatially Linked Dynamic Model, Julia E M S Nabel, Natalie Zurbriggen, Heike Lischke Jul 2012

Impact Of Species Parameter Uncertainty In Simulations Of Tree Species Migration With A Spatially Linked Dynamic Model, Julia E M S Nabel, Natalie Zurbriggen, Heike Lischke

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The simulation of tree species migration suffers from many sources of uncertainty.In our study we examined the influence of species parameter uncertainty on simulatedtree species migration, using the spatially linked dynamic forest landscape modelTreeMig. The impact of uncertainty becomes especially apparent under critical conditionsarising from the interaction of species sensitivities to climate, species competitionand spatial fragmentation. Therefore we examined the differences in migration successand speed in a realistic scenario including these critical conditions. The south-north migrationof the submediterranean tree species Ostrya carpinifolia through the highly fragmentedand climatically heterogeneous landscape of the Swiss Alps was simulated for27 different species parameter sets …

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Overview On Data Sources For Modeling Epidemiological Effects Of Environmental Pollution, Ralf Kusmierz, Hagen Scherb, Kristina Voigt Jul 2012

Overview On Data Sources For Modeling Epidemiological Effects Of Environmental Pollution, Ralf Kusmierz, Hagen Scherb, Kristina Voigt

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

We focus on German population based data, which are routinely available in German statistical databases for the evaluation of the human sex odds at birth in the vicinity of nuclear facilities as well as around chemical sites. In this respect we have to distinguish between the statistical offices of the German states (Bundesländer) and the Federal statistical office of the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany). A specific difficulty arising from the German reunification in 1991 concerns data availability and data formats from the former GDR (German Democratic Republic). These offices collect data on birth statistics which are the basis of …

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A Methodology For The Characterization Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, A. Cabello, F. Sem Jul 2012

A Methodology For The Characterization Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, A. Cabello, F. Sem

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The issue of the paper is to propose a methodology to characterize and describe any Intelligent Environmental Decision Support System (IEDSS). This characterization is necessary to analyse the IEDSSs built until now, to improve their abilities and their current output information. The methodology proposes a selection of a set of features to characterize all IEDSS, and in general, IDSS. The main characteristics of Intelligent Decision Support Systems have been identified through an accurate analysis of cognitive tasks, and several layers involved in this kind of systems. The resulting analysis has been implemented in a form. This form takes into account …

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Integration Of Bayesian Inference Techniques With Mathematical Modelling, George B. Arhonditsis Jul 2012

Integration Of Bayesian Inference Techniques With Mathematical Modelling, George B. Arhonditsis

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Skeptical views of the scientific value of modelling argue that there is no true model of an ecological system, but rather several adequate descriptions of different conceptual basis and structure. My study addresses this question using a complex ecosystem model, developed to guide the water quality criteria setting process in the Hamilton Harbour (Ontario, Canada), along with a simpler plankton model that considers the interplay among phosphate, detritus, and generic phytoplankton and zooplankton state variables. Predictions from the two models are combined using the respective standard error estimates as weights in a weighted model average. The two eutrophication models are …

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A Variable-Structure Catchment Model As The Engine For A Water Quality Decision Support Tool Facilitating Scientific Debate And Collaboration., M. Bruen, E. Mockler Jul 2012

A Variable-Structure Catchment Model As The Engine For A Water Quality Decision Support Tool Facilitating Scientific Debate And Collaboration., M. Bruen, E. Mockler

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Distributed or semi-distributed models are usually cascades of lumped models, each with an identical structure. This, classical, approach has a number of drawbacks; (i) each lumped model must be sufficiently general and thus complex to cope with the range of hydrological situations possible and (ii) it precludes debate and discussion between scientists about the most appropriate model conceptualisation and in particular it precludes using different conceptualisations in different areas to adapt the model to different hydrologic regimes, perhaps even in the same catchment. Both of these lead to distributed models that are unnecessarily complex and over-parameterised with consequent implications for …

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Use Of Integrated Models To Minimize The Impact Of Urban Wastewater Systems On A Mediterranean Stream, P. Prat, Corominas Ll, Lorenzo Benedetti, Joaquim Comas Jul 2012

Use Of Integrated Models To Minimize The Impact Of Urban Wastewater Systems On A Mediterranean Stream, P. Prat, Corominas Ll, Lorenzo Benedetti, Joaquim Comas

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In some regions, like in the Mediterranean area, streams are characterized by harsh hydrological fluctuations, with very low flow rates in summer and high in autumn. During low river flow conditions, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges contribute significantly to the total river flow and hence their impact is higher. The objective of this paper is to find solutions to confront this typical problematic situation by means of integrated modelling. The benefits of modelling the whole urban wastewater system (UWS) to evaluate multiple operational strategies are shown. The model includes two sewer systems, two WWTPs, a connection channel between the two …

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Image Assimilation And Motion Estimation Of Geophysical Fluids, Isabelle Herlin, Dominique Bereziat, Etienne Huot Jul 2012

Image Assimilation And Motion Estimation Of Geophysical Fluids, Isabelle Herlin, Dominique Bereziat, Etienne Huot

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Simulation models and image data are simultaneously available for numerousscientific domains, such as oceanography and meteorology. They are indeed two complementarydescriptions of the same complex system. Data Assimilation is a well-knownmathematical technique used, in environmental sciences, to improve forecasts obtainedfrom the simulation models, thanks to the observation data. One class of data assimilationalgorithms, named 4D-Var, globally adjusts the model output to the observations, thatare available over a period of time. The question of how to derive accurate characteristicfeatures from images, with an optimal use of the simulation model, is of major interestfor the image processing community. In this article, we …

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Modelling Ecosystem Services Using Bayesian Belief Networks: Burggravenstroom Case Study, Dries Landuyt, Elina Bennetsen, Rob D. Hondt, Guy Engelen, Steven Broekx, Peter L. M. Goethals Jul 2012

Modelling Ecosystem Services Using Bayesian Belief Networks: Burggravenstroom Case Study, Dries Landuyt, Elina Bennetsen, Rob D. Hondt, Guy Engelen, Steven Broekx, Peter L. M. Goethals

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

While being studied by scientists for decades, the term ecosystem services was only recently introduced to the general public. This introduction intended broad-scale recognition of ecosystems and their value for human well-being. Both quantitative and qualitative research on ecosystem services became emerging topics in scientific research. Ecosystem service prediction models were developed varying from basic qualitative models to complex mechanistic models which enable quantification of ecosystem services. The introduction of Bayesian belief networks in ecosystem service modelling has led to an intermediate approach between both methods. Major advantages of this Bayesian network modelling approach are the model transparency which enables …

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Dynamic Modelling Of Silvopastoral Landscape Structure: Scenarios For Future Climate And Land Use, François Gillet, Alexander Peringer Jul 2012

Dynamic Modelling Of Silvopastoral Landscape Structure: Scenarios For Future Climate And Land Use, François Gillet, Alexander Peringer

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Pasture-woodland landscapes result from a long history ofsilvopastoralism in mountain regions and provide valuable ecosystem services.They include a mosaic of grasslands, forests and wood-pastures, which is theheritage of a multipurpose management in the variable socio-economic andbiophysical context of the last millennium. In the perspective of ongoing climateand land-use changes, it is crucial to assess the resilience and the adaptivecapacity of such socio-ecological systems at different spatial and temporal scales.For this purpose, we developed a hierarchical, process-based, dynamic model,WoodPaM, and we simulated six scenarios of climate change and management ina real landscape of the Swiss Jura Mountains. Realistic climatic scenarios for …

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Integrated Ecological Modelling For Decision Support In The Integrated Urban Water System Modelling Of The Drava River (Varazdin, Croatia), Javier E. Holguin, Gert Everaert, Lorenzo Benedetti, Youri Amerlinck, Peter L. M. Goethals Jul 2012

Integrated Ecological Modelling For Decision Support In The Integrated Urban Water System Modelling Of The Drava River (Varazdin, Croatia), Javier E. Holguin, Gert Everaert, Lorenzo Benedetti, Youri Amerlinck, Peter L. M. Goethals

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Legal physical-chemical emission limits are traditionally used forassessing the effectiveness of urban sanitation infrastructure. However, thereceiving water’s ecological aspects are disregarded with this conventionalapproach. European legislation (i.e. Water Framework Directive-WFD) now has anintegrated approach of river management, which considers the concept ofecological status. Furthermore, the WFD urges the adoption of a combined analysisof emission limits values and physical-chemical and ecological aspects of thereceiving waters and encourage the availability and use of decision support tools forwater management such as simulation models. Croatia has signed agreements tojoin the European Union (EU) and thus taken up the obligation to coordinate itslegislation with EU …

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Probabilistic Risk Assessment And Decision Support Tools For The Evaluation Of Oil Transport In The Gulf Of Finland, North-Eastern Baltic Sea, Annukka Lehikoinen, Emilia Luoma, Maria Hänninen, Jenni Storgård, Sakari Kuikka Jul 2012

Probabilistic Risk Assessment And Decision Support Tools For The Evaluation Of Oil Transport In The Gulf Of Finland, North-Eastern Baltic Sea, Annukka Lehikoinen, Emilia Luoma, Maria Hänninen, Jenni Storgård, Sakari Kuikka

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The maritime traffic in the Gulf of Finland (GoF), North-eastern BalticSea, is predicted to rapidly grow in the near future, which increases theenvironmental risks through both direct environmental effects and by increasing therisk of severe oil accident. A multidisciplinary group of researchers has developeda prototype of risk assessment and decision support model, applying BayesianNetworks (BNs), for the evaluation of environmental risks arising from the oiltransport. It consists of sub-models on tanker collisions, causation probability(human factor), the resulting leak size, and the efficacy of open sea oil recovery.This meta-model is based on three alternative growth scenarios concerning themaritime traffic of the …

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Estimating Impact Assessment And Adaptation Strategies Under Climate Change Scenarios For Crops At Eu27 Scale, Marcello Donatelli, A. K. Srivastava, G. Duveiller, S. Niemeyer Jul 2012

Estimating Impact Assessment And Adaptation Strategies Under Climate Change Scenarios For Crops At Eu27 Scale, Marcello Donatelli, A. K. Srivastava, G. Duveiller, S. Niemeyer

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Policy makers at European and national level demand for estimates of potential vulnerability of agricultural production. Estimates are requested specific to province level, and articulated for crops. The base of such estimates is the biophysical representation of crop responses both under conditions of no adaptation, and exploring the level of adaptation which could be acted on autonomously by farmers. However, producing such estimates poses significant challenges due to the usability of climate inputs to simulation models, to reliability and completeness of data, to the level of abstraction to be chosen, and to technological aspects. This study provides an impact assessment …

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Assessment Of Phytoplankton Productivity Using Satellite Data For Peter The Great Gulf, Oksana Zhdanova, Alexander Abakumov Jul 2012

Assessment Of Phytoplankton Productivity Using Satellite Data For Peter The Great Gulf, Oksana Zhdanova, Alexander Abakumov

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The biological productivity of ecological systems is very important characteristic for study of the natural environment. For aquatic ecosystems the biological productivity can be determined on the base of phytoplankton productivity. The distribution of phytoplankton in a vertical column of water under the influence of sun intensity, temperature and mineral content is simulated. Change in the concentration of mineral substances and phytoplankton is influenced by diffusion. Photosynthetic activity radiation and temperature of water satisfy the climatic conditions typical of Peter the Great Bay. A remote sensing data probing the seas and oceans plays an important role in the study of …

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Drivers Of Change In Southern European Agriculture: Online Participatory Approaches For The Analysis Of Planned And Autonomous Adaptation Strategies, Dragana Bojovic, Laura Bonzanigo, Carlo Giupponi Jul 2012

Drivers Of Change In Southern European Agriculture: Online Participatory Approaches For The Analysis Of Planned And Autonomous Adaptation Strategies, Dragana Bojovic, Laura Bonzanigo, Carlo Giupponi

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Together with socio-economic and policy changes, climate change deeply affects sustainable patterns of water management. The presented work explores how online participatory tools can be linked to a decision support system (DSS), in order to set up a web based DSS for assessment and evaluation of autonomous and planned water-saving adaptation strategies in irrigated production systems. Innovative online participatory tools are developed and tested. The paper presents online participation (eParticipation) as a means to establish communication with the main “agents” (farmers) of the socio-ecosystem of interest. This is composed of two phases: (i) assessment of farmers’ perceptions of ongoing changes …

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Phosphorus Use And Management Strategies: Exploring Scenarios Of Smallholder’S Soil Fertility, Food Production And Livelihood With A Multi-Agent System Model, Quang Bao Le, Roland W. Scholz, Roman Seidl, Quyet Manh Vu, Tien Minh Tran Jul 2012

Phosphorus Use And Management Strategies: Exploring Scenarios Of Smallholder’S Soil Fertility, Food Production And Livelihood With A Multi-Agent System Model, Quang Bao Le, Roland W. Scholz, Roman Seidl, Quyet Manh Vu, Tien Minh Tran

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Phosphorus (P) is a key nutrient for food production. However, excess P use, e.g. in form of inorganic fertilizer application, can lead to environmental pollution, biodiversity losses and low profitability. Continuous cultivation with underuse of P fertilizer results in low food productivity and soil degradation due to soil nutrient mining or soil erosion. The concern is most serious for smallholder farmers in developing countries whose food production and livelihood is tied directly to their access to and efficient use of P as key nutrient for plant growth. This paper introduces a multi-agent system modeling framework for assessing long-term impacts of …

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Simulating Shocks With The Hypercycles Model Of Economic Production, Christopher Watts, Claudia R. Binder Jul 2012

Simulating Shocks With The Hypercycles Model Of Economic Production, Christopher Watts, Claudia R. Binder

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Padgett’s hypercycles model of economic production (Padgett et al. 2003) is an agent-based simulation that demonstrates the emergence of novel forms of social organisation among limited-intelligence agents. In this paper we argue that it can be extended to explore issues of resilience and the responses to shocks in complex systems of agent-environment interactions. Based on learning by doing, a simple search heuristic enables a population of firms to adapt and find system states containing a collectively self-sustaining subset of firms with production rules and mix of materials in the environment. The self-sustaining systems Padgett finds persist in spite of variability …

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Uncertainty Propagation Between Web Services – A Case Study Using The Ehabitat Wps To Identify Unique Ecosystems, Michael Schulz, Jon Olav Skøien, Lydia Gerharz, Grégoire Dubois, Edzer Pebesma Jul 2012

Uncertainty Propagation Between Web Services – A Case Study Using The Ehabitat Wps To Identify Unique Ecosystems, Michael Schulz, Jon Olav Skøien, Lydia Gerharz, Grégoire Dubois, Edzer Pebesma

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Protected areas (PAs) are designed to protect ecosystems and their associated species against anthropogenic threats. When assessing the importance of the current network of PAs, and when considering new areas which should be protected, one of the criteria is the uniqueness of the ecosystems found inside the existing or planned PA when compared to other parks. As a helping tool for park managers and potential funders, eHabitat has been designed using the Open Geospatial Consortiums (OGC) Web Processing Service (WPS) interface specification. It allows end-users to compute, using different data and models, the likelihood of finding ecosystems with similar properties, …

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