EPA ADOPTS ARGONNE COMPUTER MODEL FOR ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
29 January 2002 - DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Under the new $400,000 research project, Argonne scientists will use their Dynamic Information Architecture System, or DIAS, as the framework for ecosystem modeling and environmental health assessment through an EPA system known as MIMS, Multimedia Integrated Modeling System. The system allows scientists to consider the environment for nutrients and chemicals across air, water and land, the multiple components of the ecosystem.

DIAS was developed by scientists in Argonne's Decision and Informational Sciences Division. Part of their research is to create flexible, object-oriented approaches to complex simulation and modeling - a process that tackles large, multi-faceted issues and examines the results from a range of events.

Effective environmental management is complex and crosses several scientific disciplines, explained Pam Sydelko, Argonne environmental scientist and one of the DIAS application developers. "For example, changes in urban or rural land use can change the nature and extent of nutrients being introduced into a watershed," she said. These changes may in turn have an impact on air or water quality or the health of a local fish species. "Balancing multiple environmental management goals and objectives requires looking at the interplay of physical, chemical and ecological processes and evaluating the landscape as a whole system."

Under the program, EPA will adopt Argonne's DIAS framework and integration approach to support development of MIMS as a new modeling system, integrating models, databases and analysis tools.

Researchers in Argonne's Decision and Information Sciences Division have been researching and developing flexible, object-oriented approaches to complex, multi-model simulation and modeling and has become a leader in integrated modeling frameworks over the last ten years.

The modeling system allows land managers to simulate and better understand the complexities of an ecosystem when making decisions. Environmental simulation models often operate independently, so each component of an ecosystem-such as land, water or atmosphere-must be studied in isolation from the others. While geographic information systems that capture, analyze, manipulate and display geographic data are excellent tools for studying spatial aspects, they are static and have difficulty handling the dynamic nature of ecosystems, Sydelko said. "DIAS allows multiple simulation models to work together and reduces the cost of modeling by re-using existing data, models and system components with minimal reworking."

An object-oriented approach merges programming code and data into a single reusable software "object." Code and data are typically kept separate in other programs. Developers created special types of "objects" for DIAS that represent "real-world" components of the ecosystem such as land management, land cover, land use, atmosphere, hydrology and wildlife. These "objects" make up the core of the modular modeling framework. Together, these objects and their connections to existing software applications, such as water quality or wildlife habitat models, make up DIAS.

"The unique DIAS infrastructure makes it feasible to build and manipulate complex simulation scenarios in which many thousands of objects can interact via dozens to hundreds of concurrent dynamic processes," said John Christiansen, Argonne scientist and the lead developer of DIAS.

The software can provide a "what-if" approach that allows decision makers and land managers to assess the impacts of alternative land management actions. It also provides the ability to assess these impacts on more than just one component of the ecosystem at a time.

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