You are here

QUALITATIVE ECOLOGICAL MODELING SYSTEM

Award Information
Agency: National Science Foundation
Branch: N/A
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 17269
Amount: $49,975.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1992
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
100 North Country Rd
Setauket, NY 11733
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Scott Ferson
 (516) 751-4350
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

A COMMON DILEMMA IN ECOSYSTEM MODELING IS THE COMPLEXITY OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND THE LACK OF SUFFICIENT DATA. TRADITIONAL MODELING APPROACHES REQUIRE QUANTITATIVE DATA AND DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH SUCH DATA MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR SMALL CONTROLLED SYSTEMS SUCHAS THE LABORATORY MICROCOSM, IN MOST CASES SUFFICIENT INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR LARGE NATURAL SYSTEMS. QUALITATIVE MODELING IS A RECENT MODELING APPROACH DEVELOPEDTO ALLEVIATE THIS PROBLEM. QUALITATIVE MODELS ENCAPSULATE MORE COMPLEX SUBMODELS BY REPLACING CONTINUOUS QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES WITH DESCRIPTIVE STATE VARIABLES AND EQUATIONS WITH "IF ... THEN" TRANSITION RULES. THIS APPROACH FOLLOWS THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN HIERARCHICAL ECOSYSTEMS THEORY ANDPROVIDES A COMPROMISE POSITION BETWEEN COMPLEX MODELS AND INSUFFICIENT DATA. THE USE OF QUALITATIVE MODELS IN ECOLOGYHAS BEEN LIMITED UP TO NOW AND THE SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THE RESEARCHER HAS BEEN CONSTRAINED TO PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED FOR SPECIFIC CASE STUDIES. IN THIS STUDY WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A GENERAL QUALITATIVE MODELING PROGRAM APPLICABLE TO WIDE RANGE OF ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. THE PROGRAM WILL BE BASED ON AN INTUITIVE GRAPHICAL INTERFACE CONFERRING THE BENEFITS OF EASY ACCESS FOR USERS WITHOUT THE SPECIALIZED PROGRAMING KNOWLEDGE.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

US Flag An Official Website of the United States Government