Grantee Research Project Results
1999 Progress Report: Development of an Environment for Assembling Spatial Ecological Models Using Reusable Components
EPA Grant Number: R827958Title: Development of an Environment for Assembling Spatial Ecological Models Using Reusable Components
Investigators: Weinstein, David A. , Laurence, John A.
Current Investigators: Weinstein, David A. , Swaney, Dennis P. , Hong, Bongghi , Wenderholm, Elaine , Woodbury, Peter
Institution: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
Current Institution: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research , The State University of New York
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 1997 through December 31, 1999 (Extended to May 1, 2004)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 1998 through December 31, 1999
Project Amount: $308,120
RFA: High Performance Computing (1996) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health , Aquatic Ecosystems , Environmental Statistics
Objective:
The objective of this project is to create a new computer model development environment, called the Ecological Component Library for Parallel Spatial Simulation (ECLPSS). This environment will offer the resource manager or ecologist a toolbox for easy construction of spatial ecological models. The project includes the development of a framework, a graphical network-based model building tool, and a library of plug-in functional components for a new environment for building spatial ecological models. It is designed to be platform-independent. The goals of this new modeling environment are to:
- Separate much of the chemical/physical/biological concepts from routine programming tasks. This allows biologists to readily build new models from a library of reusable components without becoming computer scientists.
- Allow scientists to rearrange and experiment with model structure without tedious reprogramming.
- Facilitate collaborative modeling efforts.
- Incorporate existing tools when possible, e.g. geographic information system(GIS).
Progress Summary:
We have produced our initial working version of the ECLPSS modeling environment. Within this environment, we have produced a model that reproduces the same dynamics as a test set of models. We constructed a suite of components for the functions necessary to simulate forest establishment, growth, and mortality. We have designed a new component to simulate tree growth response to ozone. This component was particularly complex because it had to incorporate the indirect effects of water and nutrient availability on ozone-induced injury. We are continuing our development of a model engine (software capable of setting up and running a simulation).
We are testing the current version of the ECLPSS framework. This framework consists of C++ classes that implement the state variable structure and the component structure of all ECLPSS models. All components are subclasses of a single class, and all state variables in a model are part of a family of classes that implement the five dimensional data structures (x,y,z spatial dimensions; a time dimension; and an array vector) essential to the ECLPSS modeling system. We are using the CODEWARRIOR development environment, which we have implemented on both Macintosh and PC computers. This compiler is used widely and allows us to implement and test ECLPSS on the two most common desktop computers. Finally, we are constructing a simple "front end" to make the model environment easier to use.
We are currently modeling 7 tree species and have more than 50 state variables with over 30 components in 20 component classes, a subset of which accomplish generic tasks, including reading data from a data file of a defined format, writing data in two different formats, calculating average values, creating arrays, and writing to a log file. For each component class, there may be several separate component instances. We model an area of just under 1 hectare, using forest and meteorological data from Ithaca, New York, and simulating approximately 10,000 individual trees. We are capable of running the model on an annual time step for 100 years in order to be able to compare our results with previous results from TREGRO (which represents individual tree physiology) and Zelig (which represents forest stand growth and succession) using the same input data.
Future Activities:
We are continuing to develop this modeling system and to build more components for flexibility in modeling ecological/environmental systems. We plan to construct a multimedia model to examine the interactions of nitrogen deposition and ozone as they are processed through the air-land-water interface.Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 6 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
model, simulation, computer, programming, forest, ecology, environment, ecosystem, air pollution, ozone, component, object-oriented., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Geography, Forestry, computing technology, Ecology and Ecosystems, ecosystem modeling, geospatial data, environmental decision making, HPCC, supercomputing, computer science, geographical information systems, reusable components, computer simulation modeling, component-based software, data analysis, GIS, information technology, spatial modeling, TREGROProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.