Architecture of a computational problem solving environment for integrated environmental assessments of surface water contaminates

The objective of the research is the development of contemporary environmental science models and integrated databases of environmental monitoring data using the measuring practices that are already in place at various monitoring agencies. The objectives require the architecture and design of a logical framework for integrated environmental assessment through the utilization of computational models, in situ and remote sensed data, and geographical information systems (GIS). This logical framework will serve as requirements for the design of a computational analysis tool or decision support system that will help decision makers or policy-makers evaluate the impact of an environmental or toxicological occurrence. The research focus is on surface water contamination and the synergistic effects produced when natural processes and man-induced processes are combined and interact in a given geographical region. The research will describe the aquatic ecological system and its relationship to the environment. This has been done by utilizing computational models and functional models that are structural representation of activities or processes within a given environment or system. An information model was produced that represent the structure and semantics of the information within the system. These two models are then combined with a geographical information system (GIS), temporal databases, spatial databases, and computational tools to produce a decision support system (DSS) that will graphically depict temporal trends and spatial analyses of the affects of chemical transport and ambient parameters to the system.; The major research region is the Upper Texas Gulf Coast with focus on the Houston Ship Channel and the Galveston Bay Estuary System. The data includes ambient water quality parameter measurements, measurements of population dynamics and abundance of species, in the aquatic region, organic and inorganic chemicals found, in the selected aquatic region, and their geographical location relative to the research area.