Computer Engineering Commons^™

A Spatial Framework For Regional-Scale Flooding Risk Assessment, Yun Chen, Damian Barrett, Rui Liu, Lei Gao, Mingwei Zhou, Luigi Renzullo, Susan Cuddy, Irina Emelyanova

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The mining sector in Australia and globally has always been vulnerable to extreme weather with excess water due to flooding and deficient water through drought. Estimating flood inundation risk at a regional scale is essential for understanding sustainable mine water management, such as the Bowen Basin in Queensland, Australia. In this region, many coal mines have been facing a major challenge of increasing risk of flooding caused by intensive rainfall events. This research develops a spatial multi-criteria decision making {SMCDM) framework to assess flooding risk at regional scale using part of the Bowen Basin as a case study. Spatial data, …

Evolutionary Computation And Case-Based Reasoning Interoperation In Iedss Through Gesconda, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Gibert Karina, Radha K. Vinayagam, Beatriz Sevilla-Villanueva

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Interoperability of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS) is one open challenge in the IEDSS field. This paper shows the interoperability of Evolutionary Computation, concretely Genetic Algorithms (GA), and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) in IEDSS through the GESCONDA tool. GESCONDA is a tool for the deployment of Intelligent Decision Support Systems. This interoperability has been tested with several domains with different purposes like classification tasks, predictive tasks, etc. In the paper, the application in one environmental domain is described and analysed. The experimentation results indicate that this interoperation of both methods can improve the results of the application of one single …

Using Semantic-Based Spatial Reclassification For Interoperable Data Management In Natura 2000 Monitoring, Simon Nieland, Niklas Moran, Birgit Kleinschmit, Michael Förster

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In various fields of spatial research, semantic heterogeneity remains an unsolved problem in terms of data comparability. Interoperability of biodiversity monitoring information is especially difficult because of its thematic complexity and the high variability of acquisition methods and national differences in nomenclatures. Each EU member state must compile comprehensive information on protected areas every six years to comply with the reporting obligations of the habitats directive. Since data collection methods and interpretation manuals broadly vary by member state and manual delineation of protected areas can never be neutral, there is a need for automatized, objective methodologies for the generation of …

Business Intelligence In Environmental Reporting Powered By Xbrl, Jiří Hřebíček, Michal Hodinka, Michael Ŝtencl, Oldřich Trenz

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The paper discusses several critical points of the whole concept of Business lntelligence (Bl) approach to environmental reporting powered by XBRL. First, and most important, is the usage of structured data delivered via XBRL. The main profit on usage of XBRL is the optimization of the Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) process and its combination commonly used best practices on data warehouse models. The whole Bl workflow could be moved further by additional data quality health checks, extended mathematical and logical data test, basics of data discovery and drill-down techniques. The state of the art on the XBRL level and …

3d Model Construction Of Water Supply System Pipes Based On Gpr Images, David Ayala-Cabrera, Joaquín Izquierdo, Silvia J. Ocaña-Levario, Rafael Pérez-García

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this work, a GPR (ground penetrating radar) development is presented as a non-destructive technique. It allows the visualization of water supply system (WSS) pipelines buried into the ground. The main scope is in image (radargram) processing obtained from GPR, to ob tain improved data visualization. For the application of the technique, laboratory essays have been conducted. These essays were performed by burying a commonly used pipe in a tank that emu­ lates a small ground parcel. The images obtained were analysed and particular differences between them were observed. From this ensemble of images, a 3D model was generated to …

A Virtual Reality System To Monitor And Control Diseases In Strawberry With Drones: A Project, Rafael Rieder, Willingthon Pavan, José Maurício Carré Maciel, José Maurício Cunha Fernandes, Márcio Sarroglia Pinho

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne) is an important fruit crop in Brazil. Strawberry cultivation interest occurs because of high profitability, consumer acceptance and crop production diversity. Notwithstanding, diseases caused by fungi are a major problem in strawberry fields. For this reason, growers adopt rigid phytosanitary management practices in order to prevent losses. In this context, growers rely on the use of pesticides for controlling diseases. However, pesticide usage increases the product costs, reduces fruit quality and increases rejection by consumers. This paper presents a Virtual Reality system project to assist integrated disease management in strawberry using image processing. High quality …

Educating Stakeholders About The Need For Water Balance Using A Participatory Modeling Framework, Nagesh Kolagani, Palaniappan Ramu, Alexey A. Voinov, Rajeshwar Gali, Lakshmana Rao

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Groundwater resources in many villages of the developing countries have been undergoing rapid decline over last few decades due to their unsustainable large scale exploitation. One of the main reasons for such overexploitation is the inability of village communities to collectively visualize and understand clearly the long term implications of such overexploitation. There is hence an urgent need to create awareness among stakeholders about the unsustainable nature of such overexploitation and to facilitate sustainable usage. Spatio-temporal participatory modeling of their water management practices can help greatly in promoting such awareness among village communities. These modeling tools can then be used …

Where Are We In Wastewater Treatment Plants Data Management? A Review And A Proposal, Manel Poch, Joaquim Comas, José Porro, Manel Garrido-Baserba, Lluis Corominas, Maite Pijuan

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are comprised of complex processes that need to be optimally managed. To attain that, in the last years an impressive effort has been made to incorporate monitoring devices able to provide from several hundred to more than ten thousand signals. With the aim to take benefit of those data, different data mining techniques have been applied to transform them into information and knowledge in order to help WWTP's managers. Furthermore, several mathematical models have been developed intending to simulate process behaviour including biomass and pollutants transformation. However, it is recognized that this it is not enough …

Investigating Possible Climate Change And Development Effects On Water Quality Within An Arid Catchment In South Africa: A Comparison Of Two Models, Andrew R. Slaughter, Sukhmani K. Mantel, Denis A. Hughes

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The water quality degradation of fresh water resources has become an increasingly urgent global problem which is predicted to be exacerbated by future development and climate change. Since water quality is to a large extent driven by water quantity, it is useful for a model to incorporate a rainfall-runoff component (natural hydrology), reservoir storage, return flows and abstractions (systems modelling), and a water quality component. One such model that meets these requirements is the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) Model. During 2012, WEAP was applied to the Buffalo River within the Eastern Cape, South Africa, to investigate the effect on …

Evaluation Of Metamodeling Techniques On A Co2 Injection Simulation Study, Jared Schuetter, Srikanta Mishra, Doug Mooney

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Full-physics models for geologic carbon sequestration applications can be time-consuming to run. As a result, optimization of a particular response over a range of predictor values can be difficult. A common approach is to use a small number of simulation runs to develop a metamodel that can approximate the system response with much less computing time; this metamodel can then be used for optimization. Choosing a metamodeling approach is not always straightforward, and it can also be difficult to determine how well a model is fitting after it is trained. Here, we present a case study for a CO_{2 …}

Tethys: A Software Framework For Web-Based Modeling And Decision Support Applications, Norm Jones, Jim Nelson, Nathan Swain, Scott Christensen, David Tarboton, Pabitra Dash

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

We have developed a software framework called Tethys to aid in the creation of web-based water resource modeling applications. This suite is a Python-based scripting environment that leverages open source tools for geoprocessing of spatial data, map rendering and visualization, distributed computing, and database management. The system makes it possible to deploy a calibrated, high-resolution watershed or surface water model as a web-based application for decision support. The framework provides data managements, access to computing resources, and pluggable components (e.g. plots, maps and user controls) that enable rapid development of modeling applications. We have used the system to develop prototype …

Assessing The Relative Value Of Stereoscopic 3d Versus Head Tracking In Large Scale Immersive Visualization, Derrick Turner, Daniel P. Ames

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The use of large-scale stereoscopic immersive visualization environments is growing globally as a supplement to field work in environmental science and engineering. Such systems typically include large-scale stereoscopic displays and head/hand tracking to facilitate an immersive user experience. These components can add significant cost and complication to such a system that may not be warranted if the components do not significantly improve the user experience. This paper presents a study conducted in a large-scale visualization environment called the VuePod, to help determine the relative value of head-tracking and stereoscopic technologies in terms of improved data interpretation. Forty-eight individuals were recruited …

The Use Of Object-Oriented Programming Concepts For Documenting A Model Ensemble, Georgii A. Alexandrov

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The spread of cloud computing services gives community modelling a reasonable opportunity to become a reality in scientific research. However, even if models will be deployed in clouds, and model codes will be open for re-use, there will be little progress in community modelling in the lack of consensus standards for model documentation. This paper is to discuss a conceptual framework for developing such standards. The proposed conceptual framework is based on the idea that a new model is often a modification of an old one, and hence, the similarities between the models of the same environmental process could be …

2d Hydrodynamic Based Logic Modelling Tool For River Restoration Decision Analysis: A Quantitative Approach To Project Prioritization, David J. Bandrowski, Yong G. Lai, D. Nathan Bradley, Josh Murauskas, Dave Gauman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the field of river restoration sciences there is a growing need for analytical modelling tools and quantitative processes to help identify and prioritize project sites. Two-dimensional (20) hydraulic models have become more common in recent years and with the availability of robust data sets and computing technology, it is now possible to evaluate large river systems at the reach scale. The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) - Bureau of Reclamation in Northern California is now analyzing a 40 mile segment of the Trinity River to determine priority and implementation sequencing for its Phase II channel rehabilitation projects. A comprehensive …

Biofilm Susceptibility In A Drinking Water Distribution System Regarding 24 Hours Demand Curve, Eva Ramos-Martínez, Manuel Herrera, Joaquín Izquierdo, Rafael Pérez-García

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Biofilm leads to various undesirable problems in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs), representing a critical paradigm in the management of these systems. Biofilm depends on a complex interaction of water quality, operational factors, and infrastructure associated to DWDSs. Although, it is known that all these factors do influence biofilm development, they have not been studied to the same extent. Those associated with the design and operation of DWDSs have been the most unconsidered. Besides, the joint influence of these factors has been scarcely investigated due to the complexity of the community and the environment under study. In order to bridge …

A Conceptual Model To Guide Exploration Of Global Food-Water Security, Joseph H. A. Guillaume, Matti Kummu, Miina Porkka, Olli Varis

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

While food security can be approached as a local issue, it is strongly influenced by factors at inter-regional and global scales related to production, transaction (e.g. trade and distribution) and consumption, and by drivers such as climate, population growth, diet change, as well as social, political and technological developments. Action on food security therefore benefits from being informed by current global patterns and potential future changes and taking an integrated approach to assessing impacts of proposed responses. Modelling can notably contribute by assessing the influence of various factors on food security. Due to the significant complexity and uncertainty involved, model …

Accept'hydro: A Tool For Evaluating Potential Wetland Areas At Floodplain Scale., Adrien Bonneu, Grégory Espitalier-Nöel, Patrice Torguet, Jean-Pierre Jessel, José-Miguel Sanchez-Pérez, Vervier Philippe, Sabine Sauvage

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Alluvial wetlands have the functions of hydrological regulation and water purification, but are also of interest for preventing flooding and improving the water quality of the natural environment that serves as a reserve for drinking water and biodiversity.

Delimiting these areas is often difficult because it involves both the physical characteristics (topography, river morphology etc.) and hydrodynamic characteristics of the porous medium (permeability etc.) The proposed tool, Accept’Hydro, includes a hydrodynamic simulation of the river, the alluvial aquifer and their interaction, and produces maps of alluvial wetlands with using hydrological criteria. The tool’s primary step consists …

Relationship Between Von Karman And Reynolds Number: A Critical Analysis Using The Wind Profile Method, Pelliccioni Armando

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Von Karman constant k is important for the study of lower layer of atmosphere. This parameter can be calculated using two methods: the gradient methods and the profile methods. In this work the profile methods has been applied. A dataset, collected in a meteorological tower sited at the National Wind Technology Center in Boulder was used. Data were selected for high neutral turbulence conditions, vertical homogeneity for the wind direction and friction velocity. A near-neutral correction has been applied to the observed Von Karman constant. The profile method permits to calculate the roughness Reynolds number, a parameter link to …

Balancing Conflicting Management Objectives Using Interactive, Three-Dimensional Visual Analytics, Joseph Kasprzyk, Joshua Kollat, Chris Danilo

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the US, the recently introduced Principles and Requirements for Federal Investment in Water Resources captures an increasing trend for using multiple objective approaches to make funding decisions for water resources and environmental problems. Moreover, advanced search tools such as multi objective evolutionary algorithms can develop solutions to such problems, even when the problems are characterized by non-linearities, uncertainty, and false optima. However, our presentation argues that multi-objective decision support requires innovative methods for visualizing complex trade-offs between conflicting objectives, interrogating design possibilities, imposing preferences between objectives, and eventually negotiating a small set of final alternatives. Specifically we present a …

Problem-Specific Rule Extraction For Better Performance Of Evolutionary Algorithms, Joaquin Izquierdo, Idel Montalvo, Enrique Campbell, Rafael Pérez-García

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are ubiquitous to many environmental issues. Typically, most evolutionary techniques use just a small part of the solutions evaluated at a time. Thus, many of the solutions evaluated during the search process are "forgotten" after one generation, and combined experience of several generations is typically not well exploited. Data mining (DM) techniques can enable deeper insight into the many "good" solutions that have been just simply glimpsed and have been rapidly disregarded because they were dominated by better solutions during an ephemeral moment in the evolution process. Based on a database obtained by suitably recording certain of …

Modeling With Citizen Scientists: Using Community- Based Modeling Tools To Develop Citizen Science Projects, Steven Gray, David Mellor, Rebecca Jordan, Alycia Crall, Greg Newman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Although model-based reasoning is often at the center of environmental science and management, the process of constructing, refining and empirically validating scientific models is not often made explicit to participants in many citizen science programs. The lack of attention that modeling receives in citizen science programs is likely attributable to resource constraints, given that scientific modeling often requires considerable training and scientific software tools are not easily accessible to members of the general public. To address these constraints, we describe the development and use of a fuzzy-logic cognitive mapping software called Mental Modeler (http://www.mentalmodeler.org/), embedded within a citizen science …

Comprehensive Assessment Of Water Resources Vulnerability Based On Ispa Model Under Climate Change In Haihe River Basin, Xiaohua Yang, Congli Di, Yugi Li, Jun Ha, Jian Zhang, Xinghui Xia, Xiaojaun Chan, Jianqiang Li

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Water resource system is a complex uncertain system under climate change. To assess the water resources vulnerability rationally, an improved set pair analysis (ISPA) model, is established, in which set pair analysis theory is introduced and the weights are determined by use of the maximum entropy principle and the improved analytic hierarchy process method. And the index systems and criteria of water resources vulnerability assessment are established in this study. Uncertainties are analyzed in the assessment of water resource vulnerability by use of the ISPA model. ISPA model is used to assess water resource vulnerability of seven administrative divisions in …

Automated Data Quality Assessment: Dealing With Faulty On-Line Water Quality Sensors, Janelcy Alfreres, Peter A. Vanrolleghem

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Compared to traditional grab sampling modern measurement systems enable continuous water quality monitoring of water systems at high frequency. However, in real world applications on-line sensors are still subject to functional, technical and operational constraints. Challenges thus remain associated with the automation of data collection and especially data validation to ensure proper use and interpretation of the data and avoid the danger of building data graveyards. Poor quality data could drastically affect the results of their application, e.g. water quality models for river basin management, model-based control, WWTP control rules, decision making, etc. For practical fault detection purposes, in this …

Assessing Environmental Trade-Offs With Bayesian Decision Networks - Comparing Ecosystem Services And Irrigation Needs Of Urban And Peri-Urban Plant Species In Xinjiang, Nw China, Sina K. Frank, Petra Döll, Martin Welp, Ümüt Halik, Hamid Yimit

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Decisions in environmental management often have trade-offs attached: Either cost-benefit trade-offs, such as real costs and effectiveness of water treatment alternatives, or environmental trade-offs, such as environmental costs and benefits of land use alternatives which are more difficult to quantify. Vegetation managers in oasis towns of the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang, NW China, were interested in a specific local environmental trade-off. They wanted to know which urban and peri- urban plant species were most effective in mitigating dust weather while needing the least irrigation. To assess this trade-off, we developed a Bayesian Network and two simple Bayesian Decision Networks (BDNs). …

Use Of Cfd In The Initial Design Of A Snow Fence, Sarah Jane Wakes

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The predominant reason for controlling snow deposition using fences is to keep roads and areas around buildings clear of snow during winter months. Empirical guidelines exist but little work has been done optimising fencing design for specific purpose and location. An alternative use of snow fences in New Zealand has been to control the position of drifting snow to simulate changing climatic conditions for plant research over 30 years. This has been of varied success due to lack of design guidelines and the difficulty of gathering field data for snow deposition for validation. Initial work uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) …

Investigating Operational Decision-Making In Agriculture, Charlotte Daydé, Stéphane Couture, Frédérick Garcia, Roger Martin-Clouaire

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Farmers, in their role as production managers, have to make daily management decisions about the technical operations to be performed on the biophysical components of their farms. These decisions have important implications in terms of the sustainability of the farm business and deserve in-depth examination with a scientific approach. The traditional decision research paradigm assumes an idealized decision situation in which the farm manager knows all the relevant alternatives, their consequences and probabilities, and has fixed preferences and possesses the cognitive capacity to efficiently process them. Many studies have shown that the farmer's decision-making context does not meet these assumptions. …

Enhancing The Link Between Surface And Groundwater Models For Climate Change Assessment Of Water Supply And Demand In Northwest Mexico, George Whitten, Matthew Hann, Agustin Robles-Morua, Alex S. Mayer, Enrique R. Vivoni

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The integrated use of surface and groundwater models is critical for analyzing water resources sustainability. We have applied surface and groundwater models to the Sonora River basin (SRB) in Northwest Mexico within the context of participatory modeling with stakeholders to explore alternative futures under climate change impacts. The models are used to assess the hydrologic consequences of temperature and precipitation scenarios generated through the dynamical downscaling using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model for historical, near-future and far- future study periods. WRF is used to downscale two global circulation models (GCMs), HadCM3 and MPI-ECHAM5. Improved representation of surface-groundwater interactions …

Three-Dimensional Numerical Model To Evaluate The Suspended Solid Removal In Surface Flow Constructed Wetland, Sangsoo Han, Zhi Chen, Fayi Zhou

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Surface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs) have been widely used to treat various types of wastewater and stormwater due to the advantages such as low costs for operating and maintenance compared with conventional treatment systems. In SFCW, the flow pattern, which is determined by the geometric features including bed morphology and vegetation distribution, significantly influences the removal processes of suspended solids and other pollutants. In this study, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model, that integrates hydrodynamic model and the Lagrangian particle tracking model, is applied to determine the effectiveness of a SFCW in removing suspended solids based on the predicted flow …

Benefits Of The Use Of Natural User Interfaces In Water Simulations, Gennadii Donchyts, Fedor Baart, Arthur Van Dam, Bert Jagers

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The use of natural user interfaces instead of conventional ones has become a reality with the emergence of 3D motion sensing technologies. However, some problems are still unsolved (for example, no haptic or tactile feedback); so this technology requires careful evaluation before the users can benefit from it. We argue that the best benefits can be achieved when these natural user interface technologies are combined with classical computer interaction devices such as mouse and keyboard. In our demonstration, we will show how the LEAP Motion controller can be applied in environmental modeling when combined with the shallow water flow model …

Extending Existing Models To Capture Vegetation Response To Extreme Weather Events: The Modextreme Project, Gianni Bellocchi, Francisco J. Villalobos, Marcello Donatelli, Ole B. Christensen, Oscar Rojas, Roberto Confalonieri, Ioannis N. Athanasiadis, Irina Carpusca, Claudio O. Stöckle

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Extreme weather events are combinations of meteorological drivers that exceed certain thresholds and occur with low frequency, negatively impacting human living conditions and economic systems including agriculture. The three-year European project MODEXTREME (started on November 1st, 2013) aims at improving the predictive capability of biophysical crop and grassland simulation models under extreme weather conditions (mainly high/low temperatures and water deficit/excess). Existing modelling solutions can be improved with re-usable software libraries to capture extreme weather impacts. Estimates from existing and new modelling solutions will be compared on a variety of datasets and evaluated with respect to medium-term trajectories of future climate …