A distributed multi-user role-based model integration framework

Integrated computational modelling can be very useful in making quick, yet informed decisions related to environmental issues including Brownfield assessments. Unfortunately, the process of creating meaningful information using this methodology is fraught with difficulties, particularly when multiple computational models are required. Common problems include the inability to seamlessly transfer information between models, the difficulty of incorporating new models and integrating heterogeneous data sources, executing large numbers of model runs in a reasonable time frame, and adequately capturing pedigree information that describes the specific computational steps and data required to reproduce results. While current model integration frameworks have successfully addressed some of these problems, none have addressed all of them. Building on existing work at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), we have created an extensible software architecture for the next generation of model integration frameworks that addresses these issues. This paper describes this architecture that is being developed to support integrated water resource modelling in a metropolitan area.