ERCIM Working Group Environmental Modelling
by Achim Sydow
The modelling and simulation of complex processes in the environment
is a challenge for informatics and mathematics. The increasing environmental
pollution destroys the ecological balance, continuously reduces the healthy
biosphere, and diseases caused by civilisation are a problem with growing
importance. Thus the numerical modelling and simulation of man-made changes
to the ecosystems is becoming increasing-ly important to government bodies
and industries involved in environmental and health protection.
Complex multi-dimensional simulation models of environmental systems require
modern high-performance computer systems being still within the budgets
of small companies and local government. The quality of the numerical algorithm
design - fast equation solvers - is of the same importance as the hardware.
Parallel computers and parallel simu-lation software play a central role
for future research in this field. There is also a need for the introduction
of modern software engineering concepts, which allow the efficient use and
servicing of complex simulation software packages.
The quantity of used and derived data increases steadily with the increasing
complexity of the models. New concepts for the data acquisition systems
are under development, eg satellite imagery, weather radar, stationary and
possibly mobile observation stations. The storage of datasets requires high-performance
Geographical Information Systems and Database Management Systems. These
provide interfaces between the input data and the different simulation modules
(pre-processing), and between the calculated results and the graphical representation
(post-processing) respectively.
In order to form realistic simulation models of important environmental
processes for air, water, soil, several interdependent models have to be
linked together. Examples would be multi-disciplinary environmental and
pollutant dispersion models for urban and industrial regions for both air
and ground. Although many users are interested in such complex simulations,
this type of high-performance computer model is only just beginning to be
developed. Other complex simulation models can be derived from a study of
the impact of changing environmental conditions on ecosystems. Current investigations
show that the combined effect of several environmental impacts on human
beings, plants, etc. is extremely nonlinear.
Simulated surface-near ozone concentration in the
Berlin/ Brandenburg region on 25 July 1994, 4 p.m.,
realized by the DYMOS research group at GMD,
one of the partners in the Environmental ModellingWorking Group.
The actual cooperation partners of the ERCIM Working Group are:
