In an attempt to enhance predictive understanding of the dynamics of Earth systems (and their linkage to human factors), the University of Maryland Institute for Ecological Economics has been developing an integrated, adaptive, framework for managing these systems, particularly the impacts of natural and anthropogenic stressors on both the terrestrial and aquatic components of the system. Since receiving his Ph.D. in physics in 1988, Tom Maxwell has been developing the core of this framework- a spatial modeling workbench designed to facilitate collaborative modeling and high performance simulation, called the Spatial Modeling Environment (SME).
The SME enables students, educators, policy makers, and other non-computer scientists to utilized state-of-the-art distributed computing resources ( through Java/Web-based interfaces ) to explore the dynamics of complex systems through simulation. It is designed to support simulation module archiving and interchange, using an xml-based module specification language, and facilitate graphical model construction and collaborative simulation. One major advantage of this graphical approach to modeling is that the process of modeling can become a consensus building tool. The graphical representation of the model can serve as a blackboard for group brainstorming, allowing students, educators, scientists, and policy makers to all be involved in the modeling process.
For the past four years, Tom Maxwell has been developing the ecological modeling component of the National Computational Science Alliance (NCSA) Environmental Hydrology (EvHydro) team's research program. The Alliance is tasked with prototyping advanced computational infrastructure to support science, education, and government for the 21st century. A key aspect of the EvHydro program is the Education, Outreach, and Training (EOT) component, designed to foster understanding of ecological simulation and the dynamics of coupled ecological/economic systems by making collaborative modeling and simulation tools available within an educational and/or community setting.
We have been collaborating with the Maryland Virtual High School Program to make realistic ecosystem modeling available to students (very broadly defined) through the use of the SME Java interface, which has lead to our participation in the CoreModels and RiverWeb programs. These projects are designed to prototype learning tools and collaborative frameworks for education of 21st century citizens to participate actively in the management of natural resources vital to their communities.
The current management applications of this framework include the Everglades Landscape Model (ELM), the Baltimore LTER project (BES), and the Patuxent Landscape Model (PLM). These spatial modeling projects include a broad spectrum of scientists, managers, educators, and policy makers from the beginning. Generic models of ecosystem and economic site-specific processes are being combined with remote sensing and GIS data on land use ( and other ) landscape changes and field monitoring measurements in both aquatic and terrestrial environments in the spatial modeling workbench for broad applications linking science, education, and policy. This allows the simulation of the detailed spatial dynamics of Earth systems, including the interaction of the ecological and economic components.