Artificial-Intelligence-based Modeling for Environmental Applications and Decision Support

What we call “environment” or environmental systems is the natural world (or sections thereof) including humans and the artifacts they create. Environmental systems are complex systems, comprising a large number of interacting objects, substances, and processes which are subject to different specialized areas of science, such as biology, chemistry, hydrology, meteorology, and, when it comes to human activities, sociology, economics, even psychology. If we want to intervene in order to achieve certain goals – avoidance of environmental damage, sustainable development of resources, preservation of species – we rely on knowledge about the respective systems and the various relevant phenomena they comprise, both scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge and experience. We need a model, a model in a general sense (not simply a mathematical simulation model): a formal representation of concepts and interdependencies that allow explaining what we observe and predicting future developments and the impact of interventions.