About the Integrated Modeling Center

A major objective of ERI will be to assume the challenge of developing the data sets and technologies for integrated resource planning and management. The heart of this strategy will be to implement a new vision of an integrative approach to air, water, energy, and biodiversity and to develop the analytical methods to assess these interactions in a more quantified manner.

At the foundation of the research agenda will be an integrated resource model encompassing a wide range of disciplines including engineering, the physical sciences, the biomedical sciences, the social sciences, and where appropriate, the humanities(e.g. Native American environmental/cultural issues). This encompassing of a wide range of disciplines will emphasize the linkages among human and natural systems. The vision is that the integrated systems models will continually receive new inputs from the research projects, and they will provide feedback for the design of new research efforts. Essential research in water resources and quality, energy source and distribution, air quality, ecosystem preservation, land use, and decision-making can be combined to provide a clear picture of the challenges we face. The interdisciplinary approach and the integrated modeling framework will provide a valuable new tool for managing population growth while enhancing quality of life and will also be a valuable educational resource for both undergraduate and graduate students and policy makers.

The initial effort will continue to identify key faculty collaborators to determine the analytical models and data sets that can be linked for an initial demonstration of the integrated assessments, and to prepare a vision and research agenda that can be used for future development efforts and external financial support. The initial demonstration of this effort will focus on the Inland Empire. The rationale will be presented in the next section.

Dr. Gail Tonnesen is particularly qualified to lead this effort and will serve as the Director of the Integrated Modeling Center (See Figure 1.). She is a recognized expert in the development and application of comprehensive airshed and regional models and has taken a leadership role in attempting to integrate the other media into the process. An ad hoc committee of faculty has been created to provide guidance during these crucial, early development stages. This committee includes, in part: Edith Allen, nitrogen deposition and conservation biology; Rich Minnich, fire modeling; Larry Bai, ecosystem modeling; Tom Meixner, water modeling; Jim Lents, policy and management; Matt Barth, transportation modeling; Kurt Schwabe, resource economics; David Cocker, atmospheric aerosols; Bill Carter, atmospheric gas phase chemistry.

First Year Objectives
Proposed activities for the first year include the following:

• Converting air pollutant exposure and deposition data to GIS formats to facilitate sharing of this data with other researchers.
  
• Linking air quality models with other ecological models such as the CENTURY ecological model and the HYDRUS water resource model.
  
• The initiation of several workshops to begin in early 2005 to include researchers in Environmental Sciences, Conservation Biology, the Riverside Fire Lab, Political Science, CE-CERT and the new Center for Sustainable Suburban Development. The initial workshop was limited to a smaller select group to initiate the modeling approach for Coachella. 
  
• Integrating the transportation model (ITEM) with UCR's Air Quality Models for application in the Coachella Valley.  

The collaboration between the Air Quality Modeling Group and the Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) has begun. The CE-CERT Air Quality Modeling group produces several different simulated data sets that will be useful to the Center for Conservation Biology. These data sets are being transformed into a format that can be easily used by CCB. These data sets included modeled ozone exposure and modeled deposition of ozone, nitrogen, acids and other atmospheric pollutants. These simulated data are produced by operating meteorology models, emissions models and chemical-transport models at CE-CERT. Simulated data are defined on a 4-km resolution spatial grid. In addition, ambient monitoring data will take place at certain locations. Because CCB routinely works with ArcGIS, the decision was made to convert the CE-CERT data sets to ArcGIS "layers" that can be used in ArcGIS with other CCB datasets. Other activities to date include development of C++ programs and Unix scripts to perform the data transformation. It is expected that this demonstration of collaboration between CE-CERT and CCB will form the basis for future integrated modeling projects in the Coachella Valley and Southern California, with ArcGIS serving as the common platform used to link datasets among all UCR researchers involved in both data analysis and simulation modeling. Eventually we expect the collaboration to encompass other researchers at UCR.

Gail Tonnesen has been meeting regularly with a multidisciplinary group of UCR researchers to develop proposals for external funding. A key result of this effort is reflected in the recent award of NSF funding for an interdisciplinary research project titled "Thresholds of Vegetation Change Following N Deposition in Southern California Ecosystems". A key component of this project will be long-term modeling of emissions, meteorology and air quality in Southern California, and a comparison of model simulated data with ambient data collected by other UCR researchers. Although funding will not begin for this effort until January 2005, Dr. Tonnesen has continued to meet with other team members to initiate this activity and is developing data sets that will be used in the modeling effort.