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- EcoDynamo - Ecological Dynamics Model ApplicationPublication . Pereira, António; Duarte, Pedro
- DSS Application (Ria Formosa Lagoon)Publication . Pereira, António; Duarte, PedroThis report presents the Decision Support System (DSS) applied to the Ria Formosa lagoon using an agent-based simulation approach. The idea is to include the interests of the decision-makers and stakeholders in the ecological system simulation; these entities are modelled as intelligent agents that communicate with the simulation tool (EcoDynamo) building one multi-agent community system. The intelligent agents, each one with some goals about the simulation results of the simulated system, have perception of their environment, reason, using their knowledge and are able to change the simulated environment by using a given set of configurable actions. Two intelligent agents are being developed at the moment: one calibration agent and one aquaculture/farming agent. The former intends to optimise the fit between observed and simulated results, and the latter looks for production optimisation. The agent used to generate this report is a development tool that includes actions from both agents. This report also introduces ECOLANG, a communication language developed during the DITTY project, with the main purpose of interchanging information between the simulation application of aquatic ecosystems - EcoDynamo - and external agents. Finally, the report focuses on the integration of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), developed by the University of Siena, in the aquaculture/farming agent decision process (Siena 2005 and Siena 2006)
- Different modelling tools of aquatic ecosystems: A proposal for a unified approachPublication . Pereira, António; Duarte, Pedro; Norro, A.Over the last few decades, several modelling tools have been developed for the simulation of hydrodynamic and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems. Until late 70's, coupling hydrodynamic models to biogeochemical models was not common and today, problems linked to the different scales of interest remain. The time scale of hydrodynamic phenomena in coastal zone (minutes to hours) is much lower than that of biogeochemistry (few days). Over the last years, there has been an increasing tendency to couple hydrodynamic and biogeochemical models in a clear recognition of the importance of incorporating in one model the feedbacks between physical, chemical and biological processes. However, different modelling teams tend to adopt different modelling tools, with the result that benchmarking exercises are sometimes difficult to achieve in projects involving several institutions. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to provide a quick overview of available modelling approaches for hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modelling, to help people choose among the diversity of available models, as a function of their particular needs, and to propose a unified approach to allow modellers to share software code, based on the object oriented programming potentiality. This approach is based on having object dynamic link libraries that may be linked to different model shells. Each object represents different processes and respective variables, e.g. hydrodynamic, phytoplankton and zooplankton objects. Some simple rules are proposed to link available objects to programs written in different source codes.
- Hydrodynamic Modelling of Ria Formosa (South Coast of Portugal) with EcoDynamoPublication . Duarte, Pedro; Azevedo, Bruno; Pereira, AntónioIn this work a hydrodynamic model of Ria Formosa (South of Portugal) is presented. Ria Formosa is a large (c.a. 100 km2) mesotidal lagunary system with large intertidal areas and several conflicting uses, such as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and nature conservation. This coastal ecosystem is a natural park where several management plans and administrative responsibilities overlap. The work presented here is part of a coupled hydrodynamicbiogeochemical model that includes pelagic and benthic processes and variables. It is a two-dimensional vertically integrated hydrodynamic model, based on a finite differences grid with a 100 m spatial step and a semi-implicit resolution scheme. It is forced by tide level changes at the sea boundary and river flows at the land boundary. The model includes a wetdrying scheme to account for the dynamics of the large intertidal areas. The purposes of this work are to: (i) describe the model; (ii) present its calibration and validation against field data; (iii) use the model to analyse circulation patterns and estimate the water residence time and (iv) analyse the dispersion of effluents rejected by the Waste Water Treatment Plants located in the lagoon.
- Biogeochemical Modelling of Ria Formosa (South Coast of Portugal) with EcoDynamo - Model descriptionPublication . Duarte, Pedro; Pereira, António; Falcão, Manuela; Serpa, Dalila; Ribeiro, Catarina; Bandeira, Rui; Azevedo, Bruno
- Scenario Analysis in Ria Formosa with EcoDynamoPublication . Duarte, Pedro; Azevedo, Bruno; Ribeiro, Catarina; Pereira, António; Falcão, Manuela; Serpa, Dalila; Bandeira, Rui; Reia, JoãoRia Formosa is a natural park managed partly by the Portuguese end-users of the DITTY project – Ria Formosa Natural Park authority, under “Instituto para a Conservação da Natureza (ICN)”. There are many conflicting interests over the management of this important coastal area: fishing, tourism, aquaculture, salt production, harbour activities, urban development and conservation. Furthermore, several institutions, such as the Natural Park Authority, municipalities, the Portuguese Navy, just to mention a few, are involved in decision-making over several areas of the natural park. Within DITTY, several scenarios were selected among those relevant for the management of this coastal ecosystem, considering available information from the end-users, relative importance of the mentioned scenarios, modelling and time constraints.
- Gestão de zonas lagunares costeiras: projecto DITTYPublication . Duarte, Pedro; Pereira, António; Martins, Cláudia; Guerreiro, Maria JoãoThe main objective of the DITTY (Development of an Information Technology Tool for the Management of European Southern Lagoons under the influence of river-basin runoff) project, financed by the European Union, is the development of information technology tools for the management of southern European lagunary systems. In Portugal, the ecosystem under study is Ria Formosa (Algarve). The objective of this paper is to discuss the importance of the project and to present the work developed in CEMAS within its scope. O objectivo principal do projecto DITTY (“Development of an Information Technology Tool for the Management of European Southern Lagoons under the influence of river-basin runoff”), financiado pela União Europeia, é o desenvolvimento de ferramentas informáticas para a gestão de zonas lagunares costeiras do sul da Europa. No caso português, o ecossistema em estudo é a Ria Formosa (Algarve). O objectivo deste texto é discutir a importância do projecto DITTY e apresentar o trabalho desenvolvido no CEMAS no âmbito do mesmo.
- Biogeochemical Modelling of Ria Formosa (South Portugal)Publication . Duarte, Pedro; Azevedo, Bruno; Guerreiro, Maria; Ribeiro, Catarina; Bandeira, Rui; Pereira, António; Falcão, Manuela; Serpa, Dalila; Reia, João; yesRia Formosa is a large (c.a. 100 km2) mesotidal lagunary system with intertidal areas with conflicting uses such as fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and nature conservation. Its watersheds cover an area of approximately 864 km2, with a perimeter of 166 km and a maximum altitude of 522 m. Land use may be classified into six major groups: 1) urban, 2) agricultural, 3) forest, 4) rangeland and pastures, 5) wetlands and 6) water bodies. The main objectives of this work are to: (i) Evaluate the relative importance of land drainage, waste water treatment plants (WTP) and water exchanges across the lagoon inlets, for nutrient dynamics; (ii) Analyse management scenarios related to changes in lagoon bathymetry and their potential effects on system dynamics. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT model) has been applied to the catchment areas in order to simulate water discharges into Ria Formosa providing forcing to a twodimensional vertically integrated coupled physical-biogeochemical model, implemented with EcoDynamo – an object oriented modelling software. This model includes water column and sediment processes as well as their interactions and several biological sub-models (e.g. phytoplankton dynamics and bivalve growth). Obtained results suggest that the river network may have a significant effect on lagoon concentrations, in spite of the relatively low river flows, due to the high ammonium and nitrate loads. Scenarios reflecting increases in lagoon bathymetry through dredging operations suggest an increase in lagoon water washout time with potential impacts on water quality and impacts at a scale of tens of km. The obtained results are being used by the Ria Formosa Natural Park authority for management purposes and may be useful to feedback future updates of the watershed management plans, within the scope of the European Union Water Framework Directive. The use of a lagoon scale models is therefore justified in this work