Environmental informatics

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Environmental informatics is the science of information applied to environmental science. As such, it provides the information processing and communication infrastructure to the interdisciplinary field of environmental sciences [1] aiming at data, information and knowledge integration, the application of computational intelligence to environmental data as well as the identification of environmental impacts of information technology. The UK Natural Environment Research Council defines environmental informatics as the "research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information." [2] Kostas Karatzas defined environmental informatics as the "creation of a new 'knowledge-paradigm' towards serving environmental management needs." [3] Karatzas argued further that environmental informatics "is an integrator of science, methods and techniques and not just the result of using information and software technology methods and tools for serving environmental engineering needs."

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Environmental informatics emerged in early 1990 in Central Europe. [4]

Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse environmental and ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of fields like environmental informatics and ecoinformatics to develop the foundations for effectively managing ecological information. Examples of these initiatives are National Science Foundation Datanet projects, DataONE and Data Conservancy.

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Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geographic information system</span> System to capture, manage and present geographic data

A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database, however, this is not essential to meet the definition of a GIS. In a broader sense, one may consider such a system also to include human users and support staff, procedures and workflows, the body of knowledge of relevant concepts and methods, and institutional organizations.

An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people, structure, and technology. Information systems can be defined as an integration of components for collection, storage and processing of data of which the data is used to provide information, contribute to knowledge as well as digital products that facilitate decision making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xidian University</span> Public university in Xian, Shaanxi, China

Xidian University is a public university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, SASTIND, and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation. The university is part of the Double First-Class Construction and Project 211.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geomatics</span> Geographic data discipline

Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it consists of products, services and tools involved in the collection, integration and management of geographic (geospatial) data. Surveying engineering was the widely used name for geomatic(s) engineering in the past. Geomatics was placed by the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems under the branch of technical geography.

Ecoinformatics, or ecological informatics, is the science of information in ecology and environmental science. It integrates environmental and information sciences to define entities and natural processes with language common to both humans and computers. However, this is a rapidly developing area in ecology and there are alternative perspectives on what constitutes ecoinformatics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoinformatics</span> Application of information science methods in geography, , and geosciences

Geoinformatics is a scientific field primarily within the domains of Computer Science and technical geography. It focuses on the programming of applications, spatial data structures, and the analysis of objects and space-time phenomena related to the surface and underneath of Earth and other celestial bodies. The field develops software and web services to model and analyse spatial data, serving the needs of geosciences and related scientific and engineering disciplines. The term is often used interchangeably with Geomatics, although the two have distinct focuses; Geomatics emphasizes acquiring spatial knowledge and leveraging information systems, not their development. At least one publication has claimed the discipline is pure computer science outside the realm of geography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech</span> Research organization for computational biology and related fields

The Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech was a research institute specializing in bioinformatics, computational biology, and systems biology. The institute had more than 250 personnel, including over 50 tenured and research faculty. Research at the institute involved collaboration in diverse disciplines such as mathematics, computer science, biology, plant pathology, biochemistry, systems biology, statistics, economics, synthetic biology and medicine. The institute developed -omic and bioinformatic tools and databases that can be applied to the study of human, animal and plant diseases as well as the discovery of new vaccine, drug and diagnostic targets.

Neuroinformatics is the emergent field that combines informatics and neuroscience. Neuroinformatics is related with neuroscience data and information processing by artificial neural networks. There are three main directions where neuroinformatics has to be applied:

The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. is a technical school which specializes in engineering, technology, communications, and transportation. The school is located on the main campus of the George Washington University and offers both undergraduate and graduate programs.

The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, also known as the College of IST, opened in 1999 as the information school of The Pennsylvania State University. Headquartered at the University Park campus in University Park, Pennsylvania, the college's programs are offered at 21 Penn State campus locations. Dr. Andrea Tapia currently serves as the college's interim dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renaissance Computing Institute</span>

Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) was launched in 2004 as a collaboration involving the State of North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), Duke University, and North Carolina State University. RENCI is organizationally structured as a research institute within UNC-CH, and its main campus is located in Chapel Hill, NC, a few miles from the UNC-CH campus. RENCI has engagement centers at UNC-CH, Duke University (Durham), and North Carolina State University (Raleigh).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline McGlade</span> British-born Canadian marine biologist and environmental informatics professor

Jacqueline Myriam McGlade is a British-born Canadian marine biologist and environmental informatics professor. Her research concerns the spatial and nonlinear dynamics of ecosystems, climate change and scenario development. She is currently professor of resilience and sustainable development at the University College London Institute for Global Prosperity and Faculty of Engineering, UK, and professor at Strathmore University in the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, Kenya.

Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the central notion is transformation of information. In some cases, the term "informatics" may also be used with different meanings, e.g. in the context of social computing, or in context of library science.

Forest informatics is the combined science of forestry and informatics, with a special emphasis on collection, management, and processing of data, information and knowledge, and the incorporation of informatic concepts and theories specific to enrich forest management and forest science; it has a similar relationship to library science and information science.

John Jay Kineman is an American physical scientist and theoretical ecologist, affiliated with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder, Past President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), and Fellow of the Sri Sathya Sai Center for Human Values in Puttaparthi, India; known for his work in the fields of Geographical information systems, ecological characterization, ecological niche modeling, Complex Systems Theory, and Vedic Studies.

Science Publishing Group (SPG) is an open-access publisher of academic journals and books established in 2012. It has an address in New York City and many of its journals are named American Journal of..., but the company is actually based in Pakistan. The company has been criticized for predatory publishing practices. As of 2019, it publishes 430 journals in various fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriele Kotsis</span> Austrian university teacher

Gabriele Kotsis is an Austrian computer scientist. She is full professor in computer science at Johannes Kepler University (JKU), Linz, Austria, while leading the Department of Telecommunication and the division of Cooperative Information Systems. She was vice-rector for Research and the Advancement of Women, and longstanding chairwoman of Universities Austria's Policy Committee on Research. She is a distinguished member and elected president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Lorenz Manuel Hilty is a Swiss computer scientist and author most known for his work on the sustainability aspects of digital technologies. He is Professor at the University of Zurich in Switzerland (UZH), Sustainability Delegate of the university's executive board and Director of the Zurich Knowledge Center for Sustainable Development.

References

  1. L.M. Hilty, B. Page, F.J. Radermacher and W.-F. Riekert. Environmental Informatics as a new discipline of applied computer science. N.M. Avouris and B. Page (eds.), Environmental Informatics (1995), pp. 1-11. Kluwer Academic Publishers. The Netherlands. ISBN   0-7923-3445-0
  2. "NERC - Science topics within NERC's remit". www.nerc.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2006-12-22.
  3. K. Karatzas. Environmental Informatics: Concepts and Definitions. In: A. Gnauck and R. Heinrich (eds.), Proceedings of "The Information Society and Enlargement of the European Union"-17th International Conference Informatics for Environmental Protection, Part 1: Concepts and Methods. Metropolis publishers, pp. 146-151, ISBN   3-89518-440-3.
  4. B. Page, V. Wohlgemuth. Advances in Environmental Informatics: Integration of Discrete Event Simulation Methodology with ecological Material Flow Analysis for Modelling eco-efficient Systems, Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 2, International Conference on Ecological Informatics and Ecosystem Conservation (ISEIS 2010), 2010, Pages 696-705, ISSN 1878-0296, doi : 10.1016/j.proenv.2010.10.079