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2012

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Instability Of The Exploited Population With A Simple Age Structure, Oksana Revutskaya, Efim Frisman Jul 2012

Instability Of The Exploited Population With A Simple Age Structure, Oksana Revutskaya, Efim Frisman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this paper, we investigated an optimal harvesting problem in a simpleage structure population. We assume that by the end of each reproduction seasonthe population consists of two age groups: juveniles and adults. The increase in thepopulation number is regulated by density-dependent limitation of a younger classsurvival. We consider the strategy with a stationary character of exploitation notleading to the population extinction. The optimization problem is to determine theoptimal catch quotas and equilibrium population size to provide a sustainable yieldand maximum sales return taking price fluctuations into account. It is shown that asingle age class harvesting is the optimal one, …

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A Stochastic Trout Population Model For Supporting Fish Management, C. Siegenthaler-Le Drian, L. Indermaur, A. Peter, Peter Reichert Jul 2012

A Stochastic Trout Population Model For Supporting Fish Management, C. Siegenthaler-Le Drian, L. Indermaur, A. Peter, Peter Reichert

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) is an ecologically and economically important fish species in many Swiss rivers. Since the 1980s, a significant decrease of brown trout catches was reported across Swiss rivers. To better understand the causes of this decline, a trout population model was developed a few years ago. It predicted trout densities at single river reaches. We improved this model to better guide management decisions for river restoration. We extended the model by distinguishing stocked and resident fish. This allows us to account for the empirical evidence of different behavior of stocked and resident fish in order to …

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Comparison Of Outputs Based On Three Different Modelling Approaches For The Response Of An Intertidal Ecosystem To Climate Change., Thomas Murphy Jul 2012

Comparison Of Outputs Based On Three Different Modelling Approaches For The Response Of An Intertidal Ecosystem To Climate Change., Thomas Murphy

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Three simple ecosystem models were developed to provide an understanding of how the choice of ecosystem modelling approach influences conclusions. The first ecosystem model is based on functional (biomass-flux) interactions, the second ecosystem model is based on Lotka-Volterra interactions and the third ecosystem model is based on a goal-orientated approach. All modelled the response of a rocky intertidal ecosystem to climate change. Each type of model has been shown to lead to different conclusions when considering change in the abiotic environment. This highlights the importance of using models based on different perspectives to gain a more complete insight in to …

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Definition Of Environmental Objectives In Relation With Nitrate Pollution In The Aquifers Of Spain. Simulation Model And Scenarios Used., Miguel A. Pérez-Martín, T. Estrela, M. A. Marín, P. Del-Amo Jul 2012

Definition Of Environmental Objectives In Relation With Nitrate Pollution In The Aquifers Of Spain. Simulation Model And Scenarios Used., Miguel A. Pérez-Martín, T. Estrela, M. A. Marín, P. Del-Amo

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Nitrate pollution in groundwater (GW) is a major problem in European Union that also affects a large number of GW bodies in Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Environment, and Rural and Marine Affairs has defined environmental objectives for each GW bodies of Spain in relation to pollution by nitrates, for water planning horizons, 2015, 2021, 2027. These objectives have been made available to the Spanish River Basin Authorities (RBAs) to support the elaboration of River Basin Management Plans established by the European Water Framework Directive (EC, 2000). The definition of nitrate concentration objectives in the groundwater bodies has been performed …

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Identifying The Decision To Be Supported: A Review Of Papers From Environmental Modelling And Software, Richard S. Sojda, Serena H. Chen, Sondoss El Sawah, Joseph H. A. Guillaume, A. J. Jakeman, Sven Lautenbach, Brian Mcintosh, Andrea-Emilio Rizzoli, Ralf Seppelt, Peter Struss, Alexey A. Voinov, Martin Volk Jul 2012

Identifying The Decision To Be Supported: A Review Of Papers From Environmental Modelling And Software, Richard S. Sojda, Serena H. Chen, Sondoss El Sawah, Joseph H. A. Guillaume, A. J. Jakeman, Sven Lautenbach, Brian Mcintosh, Andrea-Emilio Rizzoli, Ralf Seppelt, Peter Struss, Alexey A. Voinov, Martin Volk

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Two of the basic tenets of decision support system efforts are to help identify and structure the decisions to be supported, and to then provide analysis in how those decisions might be best made. One example from wetland management would be that wildlife biologists must decide when to draw down water levels to optimise aquatic invertebrates as food for breeding ducks. Once such a decision is identified, a system or tool to help them make that decision in the face of current and projected climate conditions could be developed. We examined a random sample of 100 papers published from 2001-2011 …

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Fusion Of Environmental Information For The Delivery Of Orchestrated Services For The Atmospheric Environment In The Pescado Project, Victor Epitropou, Lasse Johansson, Kostas Karatzas Jul 2012

Fusion Of Environmental Information For The Delivery Of Orchestrated Services For The Atmospheric Environment In The Pescado Project, Victor Epitropou, Lasse Johansson, Kostas Karatzas

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The PESCaDO project (http://www.pescado-project.eu/) aims at providing tailored environmental information to EU citizens. For this purpose, PESCaDO delivers personalized environmental information, based on coordinating the data flow from multiple sources. After the necessary discovery, indexing and parsing of those sources, the harmonization and retrieval of data is achieved through Node Orchestration and the creation of unified and accurate responses to user queries by using the Fusion service, which assimilates input data into a coherent data block according to their imprecision and relevance in respect to the user defined query. Environmental nodes are selected from open-access web resources of various types, …

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Design And Implementation Of The Land Surface Model Naturalenvironment Within The Generic Framework Opendanubia For Integrative, Distributed Environmental Modelling, Daniel Waldmann, Markus Muerth, Wolfram Mauser Jul 2012

Design And Implementation Of The Land Surface Model Naturalenvironment Within The Generic Framework Opendanubia For Integrative, Distributed Environmental Modelling, Daniel Waldmann, Markus Muerth, Wolfram Mauser

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The project GLOWA-Danube (http://www.glowa-danube.de) aimed atinvestigating the manifold consequences of Global Change on regional waterresources in the Upper Danube Basin. In order to achieve this task, aninterdisciplinary, university-based network of experts developed the integrativeDecision Support System OpenDanubia (OD). The common base for implementingand coupling the various scientific model components is a generic framework,which provides the coordination of the coupled models that run in parallelexchanging iteratively data via their interfaces. The OD framework takes care oftechnical aspects, such as ordered data exchange between sub-models, dataaggregation, data output, model parallelization and data distribution over thenetwork, which means that model developers do not …

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Coupling The Extendsim Platform With Hec-Hms For Modeling Irrigation Strategies, M. Lample, Denis Bailly, Johanna Ballé-Béganton Jul 2012

Coupling The Extendsim Platform With Hec-Hms For Modeling Irrigation Strategies, M. Lample, Denis Bailly, Johanna Ballé-Béganton

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The quantitative water management of the Charente River in France is a major policy concern because of freshwater scarcity in summer. In the context of SPICOSA project (Science and Policy Integration for Coastal System Assessment),) this policy issue was chosen to apply the System Approach Framework (SAF) methodology. This led to modeling irrigation management strategies to quantify its impacts on various uses. It was decided to model all sub-systems within the ExtendSim® platform as a first attempt for model-integration. For this purpose a hydrological model has been entirely programmed in ExtendSim ModL language. This allowed us to understand and quantify …

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Upgrading A Decision Support System For Air-Scour Control In Flat Sheet Membrane Bioreactors, Ivan Brun, Hèctor Monclús, Jordi Moreno, Montse Dalmau, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda, Joaquim Comas Jul 2012

Upgrading A Decision Support System For Air-Scour Control In Flat Sheet Membrane Bioreactors, Ivan Brun, Hèctor Monclús, Jordi Moreno, Montse Dalmau, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda, Joaquim Comas

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A decision support system to reduce energy consumption has been validated during five months in a flat sheet membrane bioreactor pilot plant treating urban wastewater. Membrane bioreactor technology consists of biological nutrient removal combined with physical separation using microfiltration or ultrafiltration membranes for wastewater treatment. The main operational cost in membrane bioreactors is the energy consumed by the blowers to reduce the fouling phenomenon. The paper demonstrates the benefits of the performance of the intelligent decision support system for air-scour control, in terms of energy reduction through the evolution of the fouling. Overall, the intelligent decision support system saves 25% …

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Automatic Population Counts For Improved Wildlife Management Using Aerial Photography, B. Sirmacek, M. Wegmann, A. D. P. Cross, J. G. C. Hopcraft, P. Reinartz, Stefan Dech Jul 2012

Automatic Population Counts For Improved Wildlife Management Using Aerial Photography, B. Sirmacek, M. Wegmann, A. D. P. Cross, J. G. C. Hopcraft, P. Reinartz, Stefan Dech

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

For effective conservation management, it is very important to provide accurate estimates of animal populations with certain time intervals. So far many studies are performed visually/manually which requires much time and is prone to errors. Besides, only a limited area can be considered for counting because of the effort required. In order to bring a new solution to this problem, herein we propose a novel approach for counting animals from aerial images by using computer vision techniques. To do so, we apply a probabilistic framework on local features in the image whose pectral reflectance differs from the surrounding region. We …

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Selecting Relevant Predictors: Impact Of Variable Selection On Model Performance, Uncertainty And Applicability Of Models In Environmental Decision Making, Gert Everaert, Javier E. Holguin, Peter L. M. Goethals Jul 2012

Selecting Relevant Predictors: Impact Of Variable Selection On Model Performance, Uncertainty And Applicability Of Models In Environmental Decision Making, Gert Everaert, Javier E. Holguin, Peter L. M. Goethals

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

One of the crucial steps when developing models is the selection of appropriate variables. In this research we assessed the impact variable selection on the model performance and model applicability. Regression trees were built to understand the relationship between the ecological water quality and the physical-chemical and hydromorphological variables. Different model parameterizations and three combinations of explanatory variables were used for developing the trees. Once constructed, they were integrated with the water quality model (PEGASE) and used to simulate the future ecological water quality. These simulations were summarized per combination of explanatory variables and compared.Three key messages summarize our conclusions. …

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Mathematical Model For Number Dynamics Of Populations With Varying Reproductive Age, Galina Neverova, Efim Frisman Jul 2012

Mathematical Model For Number Dynamics Of Populations With Varying Reproductive Age, Galina Neverova, Efim Frisman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This paper investigates a two-component model of population dynamicswith seasonal reproduction. Density-dependent regulation is realized by varying thereproductive age. Analytical and numerical research of the model is made, and themodel is approved using data on the natural population number. It is shown that theregulation of reproductive age is realized primarily by the number of matureanimals. The growth of juvenile survival leads to the emergence of biennialoscillation.

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What Is A Good Index? Problems With Statistically Based Indicators And The Malmquist Index As Alternative., Gerald Whittaker, Sven Lautenbach, Martin Volk Jul 2012

What Is A Good Index? Problems With Statistically Based Indicators And The Malmquist Index As Alternative., Gerald Whittaker, Sven Lautenbach, Martin Volk

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Conventional multivariate statistical methods have been used for decades to calculate environmental indicators. These methods generally work fine if they are used in a situation where the method can be tailored to the data. But there is some skepticism that the methods might fail in the context of skewed data distributions or spatial auto-correlation. Further, the indicators developed by statistical approaches can not be used to compare different regions or time periods that had not been covered by the input data. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate some of the shortcomings and to identify how the Malmquist index …

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Economic Incentive-Based Instruments For The Adoption Of Management Options For Water Quality Improvement In Heterogeneous Sugarcane Farming Communities, M. E. Van Grieken, P. C. Roebeling, Iris C. Bohnet, S. M. Whitten, A. J. Webster Jul 2012

Economic Incentive-Based Instruments For The Adoption Of Management Options For Water Quality Improvement In Heterogeneous Sugarcane Farming Communities, M. E. Van Grieken, P. C. Roebeling, Iris C. Bohnet, S. M. Whitten, A. J. Webster

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

There is growing recognition that coastal water quality is interdependent with agricultural management in coastal catchments. Economic incentive-based instruments can be used to internalize the negative externalities from coastal water pollution. In this paper we assess a performance-based instrument for promoting the adoption of management practices for water quality improvement in heterogeneous sugarcane farming communities in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region, with emphasis on regional income and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) delivery impacts. We combine financial and environmental analyses of farming systems at the paddock scale with a mathematical modelling approach at the farm scale, differentiating for three farm …

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Economic Incentive-Based Instruments For The Adoption Of Management Options For Water Quality Improvement In Heterogeneous Sugarcane Farming Communities, M. E. Van Grieken, P. C. Roebeling, Iris C. Bohnet, S. M. Whitten, A. J. Webster Jul 2012

Economic Incentive-Based Instruments For The Adoption Of Management Options For Water Quality Improvement In Heterogeneous Sugarcane Farming Communities, M. E. Van Grieken, P. C. Roebeling, Iris C. Bohnet, S. M. Whitten, A. J. Webster

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

There is growing recognition that coastal water quality is interdependent with agricultural management in coastal catchments. Economic incentive-based instruments can be used to internalize the negative externalities from coastal water pollution. In this paper we assess a performance-based instrument for promoting the adoption of management practices for water quality improvement in heterogeneous sugarcane farming communities in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region, with emphasis on regional income and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) delivery impacts. We combine financial and environmental analyses of farming systems at the paddock scale with a mathematical modelling approach at the farm scale, differentiating for three farm …

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Sensitivity Analysis Of Environmental Flow Rule Curves For Water Allocation Optimization: Case Study, The Upper Oldman River Basin, Alberta, Canada, M. Reza Ghanbarpour, Howard Wheater, Patricia Gober Jul 2012

Sensitivity Analysis Of Environmental Flow Rule Curves For Water Allocation Optimization: Case Study, The Upper Oldman River Basin, Alberta, Canada, M. Reza Ghanbarpour, Howard Wheater, Patricia Gober

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Water allocation models use a set of decision rule curves to define constraints and priorities for optimal allocation of limited water supply to all water demands and requirements at the river basin scale. These rules are necessary to achieve optimal tradeoff between different river basin management goals (e.g. environment protection, urban development, agricultural expansion). However, many operating rules need to be modified as water demands and river basin priorities change over time due to socio-political forces and climate change. In particular, environmental flow criteria are of major interest; they can raise challenges for resource allocation, and represent an important interface …

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The Use Of Models To Design Pest Suppressive Landscapes For Sustainable Agricultural Practice, Hazel R. Parry, Felix J J A Bianchi, Nancy A. Schellhorn Jul 2012

The Use Of Models To Design Pest Suppressive Landscapes For Sustainable Agricultural Practice, Hazel R. Parry, Felix J J A Bianchi, Nancy A. Schellhorn

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This study integrates field-based survey data with spatially-explicitsimulation modelling to assess the relative benefits of different landscapemanagement strategies for sustainable agricultural practice. We focus on the roleof native vegetation remnants in Australian agricultural landscapes in harbouringpests and beneficial insects for Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Nativevegetation remnants exist in most agricultural regions of Australia, although theirextent and composition varies greatly. Field-based surveys conducted in 2010 and2011 across three states provide important information on source habitats for pestsand natural enemies and their movement between habitats during the croppingseason. Building on this novel information, spatially-explicit simulation models wereconstructed integrating natural enemy life history …

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A Gis-Based Data Analysis Platform For Analyzing The Time-Varying Quality Of Animal Feed And Its Impact On The Environment, A. Taliun, M. Bohlen, A. Bracher, F. Cafagna Jul 2012

A Gis-Based Data Analysis Platform For Analyzing The Time-Varying Quality Of Animal Feed And Its Impact On The Environment, A. Taliun, M. Bohlen, A. Bracher, F. Cafagna

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Swiss Feed Data Warehouse is a public service for companies, farmersand research institutions that provides detailed and up-to-date information about the concentrationof nutrients in animal feed from all across Switzerland. The core of the SwissFeed Data Warehouse is a carefully curated data warehouse with more than 2 millionchemical analyses of 600 feed types and 400 nutrients. The nutrient measurements areenriched with geographical (as postal code and altitude), temporal (as harvesting andanalyses dates), biological (as variety and botanical composition) and technical information(as conservation and production methods). We propose a solution that offers tousers a fast, effective and intuitive approach to …

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Optimising Land Use For Multiple Ecosystem Services Objectives: A Case Study In The Waitakicatchment, New Zealand, Anne-Gaelle Ausseil, Alexander Herzig, John Dymond Jul 2012

Optimising Land Use For Multiple Ecosystem Services Objectives: A Case Study In The Waitakicatchment, New Zealand, Anne-Gaelle Ausseil, Alexander Herzig, John Dymond

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In New Zealand there has been rapid land-use change over the last 170 years, from all natural ecosystems to a mix of natural ecosystems (alpine ecosystems, indigenous forests, and tussock grasslands) and managed ecosystems (primarily pastoral farming and forestry). Tools are required to assess the balance between natural and managed ecosystems, and to ensure the sustainability of human development and equity in resource use. We use the ecosystem services approach to help resource managers achieve that balance. In this paper we combine several critical ecosystem services (provision of food and fibre, provision of clean water, regulation of water-flow, provision of …

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Blueprint For A Unifying Framework For Synthesis Of Aquatic Ecodynamics, Matthew R. Hipsey, David P. Hamilton, Paul C. Hanson, Justin D. Brookes, Dennis Trolle, Louise C. Bruce Jul 2012

Blueprint For A Unifying Framework For Synthesis Of Aquatic Ecodynamics, Matthew R. Hipsey, David P. Hamilton, Paul C. Hanson, Justin D. Brookes, Dennis Trolle, Louise C. Bruce

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Quantitative assessments of aquatic ecosystem dynamics and servicesare required to guide decision support activities and assess how socioeconomicscenarios of human development impact our aquatic environment. However, weare poorly equipped to predict across a broad range of scales the physical,biogeochemical and ecological interactions that control carbon and nutrient fluxpathways, despite a plethora of models and model approaches that have emerged.Our models have languished due to ambiguities and lack of agreement in modelconceptualisations, a focus on point-scale rather than system-scale validation, anda general inability to deal with uncertainty, particularly in spatially-resolved interdisciplinarymodels. Further, the site-specific and highly disciplinary nature of manymodel applications …

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Facilitating Well-Informed Trade-Off Decision Making On Land Use Change: Integrating Rules And Indicators Of Ecosystem Service Provision Into Procedural 3d Visualization, Ulrike Wissen Hayek, Noemi Neuenschwander, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey Jul 2012

Facilitating Well-Informed Trade-Off Decision Making On Land Use Change: Integrating Rules And Indicators Of Ecosystem Service Provision Into Procedural 3d Visualization, Ulrike Wissen Hayek, Noemi Neuenschwander, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Collaborative planning processes between science and a variety of publicand private stakeholders are seen as prerequisite for more sustainable landscapeand urban development. New planning tools are required enabling the stakeholdersto make collaborative decisions under uncertainties taking into account multipledimensions and values, alternative development possibilities and performanceindicators. We present a generic modelling and 3D visualization framework forcommunicating relationships between the natural and built environment combiningthe approaches of multi-criteria decision analysis and procedural 3D visualization.Focussing on urban pattern’s potential for ecosystem services provision on parcellevel, we demonstrate the approach of integrating rules and indicators into theprocedural urban model implementing ESRI’s CityEngine system. …

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Applying The Inverse Distance Weighting And Kriging Methods Of The Spatial Interpolation On The Mapping The Annual Precipitation In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Drešković Nusret, Samir Dug Jul 2012

Applying The Inverse Distance Weighting And Kriging Methods Of The Spatial Interpolation On The Mapping The Annual Precipitation In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Drešković Nusret, Samir Dug

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Two methods of the spatial interpolation [Inverse Distance Weighting(IDW) and the Kriging], often used in the Geographical Information System (GIS),have been applied on the mapping of the annual amount of precipitation in Bosniaand Herzegovina. For that purpose the monthly precipitation data obtained frommeteorological network in the period 1960-2011. The validation of the analyzeddata has been carried out by using 20-meter resolution Digital Elevation Model(DEM). The methods, which are suitable for the spatial interpolation for Bosnia andHerzegovina area, particularly for the orographic regions, were analyzed. First, theIDW linear interpolator was considered. However, in the mountain region, thismethod can give unrealistic results …

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Modelling Ecosystem Service Flows Under Uncertainty With Stochastic Span, Gary W. Johnson, Robert R. Snapp, Ferdinando Villa, Kenneth J. Bagstad Jul 2012

Modelling Ecosystem Service Flows Under Uncertainty With Stochastic Span, Gary W. Johnson, Robert R. Snapp, Ferdinando Villa, Kenneth J. Bagstad

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Ecosystem service models are increasingly in demand for decision making.However, the data required to run these models are often patchy, missing, outdated, oruntrustworthy. Further, communication of data and model uncertainty to decision makersis often either absent or unintuitive. In this work, we introduce a systematic approach toaddressing both the data gap and the difficulty in communicating uncertainty through astochastic adaptation of the Service Path Attribution Networks (SPAN) framework. TheSPAN formalism assesses ecosystem services through a set of up to 16 maps, whichcharacterize the services in a study area in terms of flow pathways between ecosystemsand human beneficiaries. Although the SPAN …

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Environmental Modelling Using Cloud Computing Tools: Case Studies And Examples, L. Matejicek Jul 2012

Environmental Modelling Using Cloud Computing Tools: Case Studies And Examples, L. Matejicek

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Cloud computing represents an emerging computing paradigm, which offers delivering a variety of computing services in a way that has not been experienced previously. In order to develop advanced simulations, environmental modelling must be adapted to this more powerful and efficient computing tool. Traditional model calculations are taken into the sphere of interconnected data and more accessible software tools, which rationalize the way they manage their resources. Moreover, information systems such as GIS, and case-oriented software tools for data pre-processing and visualization can be accessible for a wide range of users participating in research projects. In order to document distribution …

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Forest Vs. Fuel – How Could The Politically Fostered Demand For Energy Crops Influence The Effectiveness Of Redd+ Instruments?, Hanna Weise, Erik Gawel, Karin Frank Jul 2012

Forest Vs. Fuel – How Could The Politically Fostered Demand For Energy Crops Influence The Effectiveness Of Redd+ Instruments?, Hanna Weise, Erik Gawel, Karin Frank

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

We present results from an agent based model that is designed to study the effects of different instruments for climate change mitigation. The policy instruments are a fostered demand for bioenergy and REDD+-like instruments that set incentives for land users to conserve carbon stock on their land. We test how the performance of these instruments is influenced by economic and ecological conditions of the region where they are applied. We find that for fostered demands for energy crops some designs of REDD+-like instruments are more effective than others. We also show that the effectiveness of the instruments depends on the …

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Core Network Compartments: Relative Importance Of Ecosystems Players In Moving Energy Through The System, Ursula M. Scharler, Brian D. Fath Jul 2012

Core Network Compartments: Relative Importance Of Ecosystems Players In Moving Energy Through The System, Ursula M. Scharler, Brian D. Fath

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Ecosystems that are depicted as nodes (species groups) and links (trophic transfers) encompass well defined roles in terms of their trophic structure. Some are primary producers and furnish the system with newly bound energy or nutrients, whereas others divide themselves over various trophic levels creating a hierarchy of energy use and reuse. All waste and mortality products of nodes comprise the non-living environment of ecosystems, often supporting a considerable part of the system as detritus. All food sources are in general used, but are so to variable extents. Some links are always among the major links, e.g. flows from detritus …

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Spatio-Temporal Characterisation Of Ecosystem Functions Based On Macro-Habitats, L. Poggio, Alessandro Gimona, Marie Castellazzi, I. Brown Jul 2012

Spatio-Temporal Characterisation Of Ecosystem Functions Based On Macro-Habitats, L. Poggio, Alessandro Gimona, Marie Castellazzi, I. Brown

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Analysis and forecast of the spatial distribution and dynamics of ecosystem services is an important element of sustainable land management. The aim of this paper is to analyse the spatial and temporal variability of various ecosystem functions using indices derived from remote sensing products. These are applied in macro habitat types in a test area in the River Dee catchment in the north-east of Scotland, with a wide range of morphological features, soils and habitats and providing multi-functional ecosystem services (ESs), such as water quality, soil health, and biodiversity. A set of indices, single and multi-date, were derived from remotely …

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Making Sense Of Sensor Data Using Ontology: A Discussion For Road Vehicle Classification, Markus Stocker, Mauno Rönkkö, Mikko Kolehmainen Jul 2012

Making Sense Of Sensor Data Using Ontology: A Discussion For Road Vehicle Classification, Markus Stocker, Mauno Rönkkö, Mikko Kolehmainen

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In environmental engineering, sensor measurement is a process undertaken with respect to an environmental domain, i.e. an area of interest, to measure a domain property. Knowledge of a domain, meaning its concepts and relations that hold among them, can be formally represented by means of ontology. Therefore, given an ontology for an environmental domain, it seems reasonable to suggest that sensor data acquisition can be translated into ontological knowledge acquisition. We demonstrate this translation for the domain of road vehicle classification by measurement of vibration. We show how supervised machine learning is applied to learn a function that maps sensor …

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Comparing Modelling Solutions At Submodel Level: A Case On Soil Temperature Simulation, S. Bregaglio, Marcello Donatelli, Roberto Confalonieri, Marco Acutis Jul 2012

Comparing Modelling Solutions At Submodel Level: A Case On Soil Temperature Simulation, S. Bregaglio, Marcello Donatelli, Roberto Confalonieri, Marco Acutis

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

What is commonly referred as either crop or cropping system simulation model is a set of interlinked mathematical representations of approaches which are abstractions of a single biological or physical process. The methodology for their evaluation has evolved in time, but it has always targeted models as unique and immutable, except for versioning, discrete units. This paper has explored aspects both of model composition in the perspective of evaluating alternate modelling approaches, and of modelling solutions evaluation. Soil temperature was chosen as case study, evaluating nine modelling solutions against a multi-year, multi-location database of field recorded time series of data. …

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Steady-State Soil Organic Matter Approximation Model: Application To The Pasture Simulation Model, Romain Lardy, Anne-Isabelle Graux, Bruno Bachelet, David R. C. Hill, Gianni Bellocchi Jul 2012

Steady-State Soil Organic Matter Approximation Model: Application To The Pasture Simulation Model, Romain Lardy, Anne-Isabelle Graux, Bruno Bachelet, David R. C. Hill, Gianni Bellocchi

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Spin-up runs usually used to initialize mechanistic biogeochemical models highly increase the time required to make simulations. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the use of linear and quadratic regression models, as an alternative way to initialize such models. This option is illustrated with the grassland ecosystem Pasture Simulation model (PaSim) under a range of climate, soil and management conditions. Coupled to the CENTURY model for the soil processes, PaSim simulates fluxes of C, N, water and energy at the soil-plant-animalatmosphere interface for managed grasslands at the plot scale. This study demonstrates the feasibility of approximating steady state …

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