Pictorial simulation applied to water quality modeling

Pictorial simulation models considering pictorial entities and operations are introduced. Pictorial entities are defined by their shape, size, color and position. Pictorial operators include reproduction (copy of a pictorial entity), mutation (expansion, rotation, translation, change in color), fertile encounters (intersection, reunion) and sterile encounters (absorption). Pictorial simulation is applied to two water quality management problems to illustrate its potential applications: oil spill accidents and waste stabilization ponds ecology. Future developments tied to cellular automata modeling are also discussed.