Abstract
The SEAMLESS consortium develops a computerized and integrated framework (SEAMLESS-IF) to assess the impacts on environmental and economic sustainability of a wide range of policies and technological improvements across a number of scales. In SEAMLESS-IF, different type of models are linked into model chains, where each model uses the outputs of another model as its inputs and ultimately indicators are calculated. This type of integrated modelling requires interoperability, which is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.
In SEAMLESS, we have developed an ontology to establish a set of shared domain concepts. To support a semantic-aware approach to model integration, all the commonly shared data types in SEAMLESS are declared in the ontology (starting from projects, describing the elements of an impact assessment study, down to the fine detail of the variables exchanged among the models). This is an important shift in the common approach to modelling: modellers specify the data requirements of their models on a higher level, i.e. that of an ontology, which is automatically transformed into a relational database model, to which “data collecting” activities need to comply with.
SEAMLESS-IF is based on a layered, client-server architecture. The end user interacts with the system by means of two web-based Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) that run as clients. The server-client architecture of SEAMLESS-IF allows for future applications to be developed and linked to the existing server, in order to cater for specific needs of different user groups.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
http://www.integratedmodelling.org. Terms of use are defined by the General Public Licence (http://www.gnu.org/gpl).
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
Seamless Data-Ontology Task Force.
- 11.
Model name abbreviations: FSSIM - Farm System Simulator, FSSIM-AM - the Agricultural Management part of FSSIM; FSSIM-MP - the Mathematical Programming part of FSSIM, SEAMCAP - a SEAMLESS version of the ‘Common Agricultural Policy Regionalised Impact analysis’ model, APES - Agricultural Production and Externalities Simulator.
References
Athanasiadis, I. N., & Janssen, S. (2008). Semantic mediation for environmental model components integration. Information Technologies in Environmental Engineering, 1, 3-11.
Bezlepkina, I., Domínguez, I.P., Heckelei, T., Romstad, E., & Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M. (2007). EXPAMOD: Component to statistically extrapolate from FSSIM models to other farm types and regions including aggregation to NUTS2: Motivation, description and prototype. PD3.6.11.2, SEAMLESS Integrated Project, EU 6th Framework Programme, contract no. 010036-2 (p. 28), from www.SEAMLESS-IP.org
Britz, W., Pérez, I., Zimmermann, A., & Heckelei, T. (2007). Definition of the CAPRI core modelling system and interfaces with other components of SEAMLESS-IF. SEAMLESS Rep. No. 26, SEAMLESS Integrated Project, EU 6th Framework Programme, contract no. 010036-2 (p. 116), from www.SEAMLESS-IP.org
Cash, D. W., Clark, W. C., Alcock, F., Dickson, N. M., Eckley, N., Guston, D. H., et al. (2003). Science and technology for sustainable development special feature: Knowledge systems for sustainable development. PNAS, 100(14), 8086-8091.
Dahl, O.-J., Dijkstra, E. W., & Hoare, C. A. R. (1968). Structured programming. London: Academic.
Farquhar, A., Fikes, R., Pratt, W., & Rice, J. (1995). Collaborative ontology construction for information integration (Tech. Rep. No. KSL-95-63). Stanford, CA: Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University.
Fowler, M. (2007). Patterns of enterprise application architecture. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., & Vlissides, J. M. (1994). Design patterns: Elements of reusable object-oriented software. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Gijsbers, P.J.A., & Gregersen, J.B. (2005). OpenMI: Glue for model integration. In A. Zerger & R.M. Argent (Eds.), MODSIM 2005 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 648-654). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Gijsbers, P.J.A., Wien, J.E., Verweij, P., & Knapen, R. (2006). Advances in the OpenMI. In Proceedings of 7th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, HIC 2006 (pp. 72-81).
Gregersen, J. B., Gijsbers, P. J. A., & Westen, S. J. P. (2007). OpenMI: Open modelling interface. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 9(3), 175-191.
Griffen, E. M. (1997). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gruber, T. R. (1993). A translation approach to portable ontology specifications. Knowledge Acquisition, 5, 199-220.
Gruber, T. R. (1995). Toward principles for the design of ontologies used for knowledge sharing. International Journal of Human and Computer Studies, 43(5/6), 907-928.
Holsapple, C. W., & Joshi, K. D. (2002). A collaborative approach to ontology design. Communications of the ACM, 45(2), 42-47.
IEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). (1990). IEEE standard computer dictionary: A compilation of IEEE standard computer glossaries. New York: IEEE.
Janssen, S. J. C., Andersen, E., Athanasiadis, I. N., & van Ittersum, M. K. (2009). A database for integrated assessment of European agricultural systems. Environmental Science and Policy 12(5), 573-587.
Janssen, S.J.C., Wien, J.J.F., Li, H., Athanasiadis, I.N., Ewert, F., Knapen, M.J.R., Huber, D., Thérond, O., Rizzoli, A., Belhouchette, H., Svensson, M., & van Ittersum, M.K. (2007). Defining projects and scenarios for integrated assessment modelling using ontology. In L. Oxley & D. Kulasiri (Eds.), MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 2055-2061). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Kilov, H. (1990). From semantic to object-oriented data modeling. In First International Conference on System Integration (pp. 385-393).
Knapen, M.J.R., Verweij, P.J.F.M., & Wien, J.J.F. (2007). Applying enterprise application architectures in integrated modelling. In L. Oxley & D. Kulasiri (Eds.), MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 798-804). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Neches, R., Fikes, R., Finin, T., Gruber, T., Patil, R., Senator, T., et al. (1991). Enabling technology for knowledge sharing. AI Magazine, 12(3), 36-56.
Ogden, C. K., & Richards, I. A. (1923). The meaning of meaning (8th ed.). New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Patel-Schneider, P.F., Hayes, P., & Horrocks, I. (2004). OWL web ontology language semantics and abstract syntax. W3C Recommendation. Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-semantics/
Pennington, D.D., Madin, J., Villa, F., & Athanasiadis, I.N. (2007). Computer-supported collaborative knowledge modeling in ecology. Workshop on social and collaborative construction of structured knowledge. In 16th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2007). CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 273. BANFF, Canada published online.
Raskin, J. (2000). The humane interface - new directions for designing interactive systems. New York: ACM Press.
Rizzoli, A.E., Athanasiadis, I.N., & Villa, F. (2007a, September). Delivering environmental knowledge: A semantic approach. In O. Hryniewicz, J. Studzinski, & M. Romaniuk (Eds.), Proceedings of 21st International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection: EnviroInfo 2007 (Vol. 1, pp. 43-50). Germany: Shaker Verlag.
Rizzoli, A. E., Donatelli, M., Athanasiadis, I. N., Villa, F., & Huber, D. (2008). Semantic links in integrated modelling frameworks. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 78(2-3), 412-423.
Rizzoli, A., Li, H., Athanasiadis, I.N., & Marechal, F. (2007b). Semantically rich interfaces for simulation interoperability. 2007 European Simulation Interoperability Workshop (p. 60), Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization, Genoa, Italy.
Rotmans, J., & Dowlatabadi, H. (1998). Integrated assessment modeling. In S. Rayner & E.L. Malone (Eds.), Human choice and climate change: Tools for policy analysis (Vol. 3, pp. 291-377). Columbus, OH: Batelle Press.
Rotmans, J., & van Asselt, M. (1996). Integrated assessment: A growing child on its way to maturity. Climatic Change, 34(3-4), 327-336.
Schoemaker, P. J. H. (1993). Multiple scenario development: Its conceptual and behavioral foundation. Strategic Management Journal, 14(3), 193.
Scholten, H., Kassahun, A., Refsgaard, J. C., Kargas, T., Gavardinas, C., & Beulens, A. J. M. (2007). A methodology to support multidisciplinary model-based water management. Environmental Modelling and Software, 22(5), 743-759.
Sølvberg, A. (1998). Data and what they refer to. In P. P. Chen (Ed.), Concept modeling: Historical perspectives and future trends. Berlin: Springer.
van der Aalst, W. M. P., & van der Hee, K. M. (2002). Workflow management: Models, methods and systems. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Van Ittersum, M. K., & Donatelli, M. (2003). Modelling cropping systems [Special issue]. European Journal of Agronomy, 18(3-4), 187-394.
Van Ittersum, M. K., Ewert, F., Heckelei, T., Wery, J., Alkan Olsson, J., Andersen, E., et al. (2008). Integrated assessment of agricultural systems - a component based framework for the European Union (SEAMLESS). Agricultural Systems, 96, 150-165.
Verweij, P.J.F.M., Knapen, M.J.R., & Wien, J.J.F. (2007). The use of OpenMI in model based integrated assessments. In L. Oxley & D. Kulasiri (Eds.), MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 1166-1171). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Villa, F. (2005). A semantic model of computation for natural system modelling. In A. Zerger & R.M. Argent (Eds.), MODSIM 2005 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 751-757). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Villa, F., Athanasiadis, I. N., & Rizzoli, A. E. (2009). Modelling with knowledge: A review of emerging semantic approaches to environmental modelling. Environmental Modelling and Software, 24(5), 577-674.
Villa, F., Donatelli, M., Rizzoli, A.E., Krause, P., Kralisch, S., & van Evert, F.K. (2006). Declarative modelling for architecture independence and data/model integration: A case study. In A. Voinov, A. Jakeman, & A.E. Rizzoli (Eds.), Proceedings of the iEMSs Third Biennial Meeting, “Summit on Environmental Modelling and Software”. Burlington, VT: The International Environmental Modelling and Software Society.
Wien, J. J. F., Knapen, M. J. R., Janssen, S. J. C., Verweij, P. J. F. M., Athanasiadis, I. N., Li, H., et al. (2007). Using ontology to harmonize knowledge concepts in data and models. In L. Oxley & D. Kulasiri (Eds.), MODSIM 2007 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (pp. 1959-1965). Australia/New Zealand: Modelling and Simulation Society.
Zander, P., & Kächele, H. (1999). Modelling multiple objectives of land use for sustainable development. Agricultural Systems, 59, 311-325.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wien, JE. et al. (2010). A Web-Based Software System for Model Integration in Impact Assessments of Agricultural and Environmental Policies. In: Brouwer, F., Ittersum, M. (eds) Environmental and Agricultural Modelling. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3619-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3619-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3618-6
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3619-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)