Name:JAMS
Description:Software framework for modular environmental model development and application
Abstract:To tackle problems of integrated environmental management, flexible and powerful simulation models are needed in order to analyse the current state of natural systems or to project their future dynamics under predefined development scenarios. Especially, in cases where existing, domain-specific models cannot easily be extended to meet given modelling requirements, component coupling is apromising approach to create integrated solutions for the detailed consideration of a wide variety of different environmental processes.
The Jena Adaptable Modelling System (JAMS) is an open-source software platform that has been especially designed to address the demands of a process-based environmental model development and various aspects of model application. The model design and implementation stage is supported by (i) the explicit representation of the spatial and temporal domains via appropriate data types, (ii) a strong separation of process simulation components from the description of integrated models of higher complexity, and (iii) the use of annotations to provide detailed meta-information on the purpose of simulation components and the meaning of their input and output data. In addition, JAMS supports the model application stage by providing (i) flexible interfaces for the input and output of environmental data, (ii) powerful parameter optimization and uncertainty analysis methods, (iii) service-oriented runtime environments for remote and parallel model execution, and (iv) user-friendly functions for the analysis and visualization of environmental data.
JAMS has been successfully applied for a wide range of simulation applications covering different processes and spatial scales. Examples are the assessment of water balance, nutrient cycle and erosion in catchments ranging from 10 to 100,000 km² and under different climatic conditions.

Created:2014-05-14
Last updated:2014-05-14