Thursday, March 11, 2010

AAG Sessions Finalized

The AAG has released their preliminary program for its up and coming Annual Meeting in Washington DC. Part of which are several sessions entitled Perspectives on Geographic Complexity. These sessions where organized by Arika Ligmann-Zielinska, Andrew Crooks, Alison Heppenstall, Moira Zellner, Suzana Dragicevic, Debarchana Ghosh, Tom Evans and Seth Spielman. The session description is as follows:

Understanding geographical systems represents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Complexity has emerged as a useful paradigm to effectively study linked human, socioeconomic, health, and biophysical systems at a variety of different spatial and temporal scales. As a result, descriptive and predictive models of various levels of sophistication and using mostly agents, genetic algorithms, cellular automata and neural networks are now beginning to regularly appear in the geographic literature. However, there still remains many unresolved conceptual, technical and application challenges associated with these complexity based models. The goal of this session is to focus on the following themes:

  1. Conceptual: shared and unique complexity signatures in geographic systems; existing and emerging geographical and complexity theories; epistemological and ontological influences; complexity based model designs; networks and hybrid models; linking classical and spatial statistics in complexity studies.
  2. Technical: space-time patterns and dynamics; standardizing the development and representation of complex systems; rule selection and implementation; multiple-scale interactions and structure, system evolution and self-organization; learning and adaptation; calibration, validation and verification; path-dependence; non-linearity.
  3. Applications: effectiveness of complexity models when embedded in political, institutional and socio-economic systems; human-environment interactions; earth systems science; land use science; landscape ecology; sustainability analysis; infectious and chronic disease; neighborhood effects on health.
We had numerous papers submitted and we have divided them up into 7 sessions as you can see below. The sessions start on Saturday, 4/17/10 and conclude on Sunday, 4/18/10.

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (1): Theories and Methods

Saturday, 4/17/10, from 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Alison Heppenstall - University of Leeds

Abstracts:

Authors: *Sara Metcalf & Michael Widener - University at Buffalo

Title: S(t)imulating (S)pace: Cultivating a Postmodern Geographic (Con)science

Authors: *Amit Patel, School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Phoram Shah - MPA

Title: Slum Formation Theory: A Simulation Approach

Authors: *Itzhak Benenson - Tel Aviv University, Israel, Erez Hatna - Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Title: Warning, the Rationality of Spatial Agents is Bounded!

Authors: *Monica Wachowicz - Wageningen UR, Jack Owens - Idaho State University

Abstract Title: Space-Time Representation of Narrative Knowledge

Author: *Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, - George Mason University

Title: MASON AfriLand: A Regional Multi-Country Agent-Based Model with Cultural and Environmental Dynamics

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (2): Methods and Data Issues

Saturday, 4/17/10, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Alison Heppenstall - University of Leeds

Abstracts:

Authors: *H. Van Dyke Parunak & Sven A. Brueckner- Vector Research Center, Division of TTGSI

Title: Polyagent-Based Mapping of Aleatoric Uncertainty in Geospatial Trajectories

Author: *Geoffrey Jacquez - BioMedware, Inc.

Title: space-time intelligence system software for the analysis of complex geographic systems

Authors: *Wenwu Tang - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, David A. Bennett - University of Iowa, Shaowen Wang - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Parallel Agent-based Modeling for Large-scale Geographic Systems

Authors: *Burak Güneralp - Yale University, Michael K. Reilly - Stanford University, & Karen C. Seto - Yale University

Abstract Title: Simulating feedbacks across and among scales in land change science: An operational framework

Author: *Arika Ligmann-Zielinska - Michigan State University

Title: Variance-Based Global Sensitivity Analysis of Decision Making Mechanisms in an Agent-Based Model of Land Use Change

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (3): Disease and Health Modeling

Saturday, 4/17/10, from 12:40 PM - 2:20 PM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Seth Spielman - Brown University

Abstracts:

12:40 PM Author(s): *Debarchana Ghosh - Kent State University, Rajarshi Guha - National Institute of Health

Title: Identifying optimal risk factors for prediction and interpretation of West Nile virus occurrences using Neural Network

Author: *Gabriela Alcaraz V. - University of Hohenheim

Title: Use of GIS for the analysis of food and nutrition security. An application to Guatemala.

Authors: Joshua King - Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, *Peter J. Deadman - University of Waterloo

Title: An Agent Based Approach to Epidemiological Modelling of Malaria

Author: *Lara J. Iverson - SUNY University at Buffalo

Title: Incorporating Gender and Stigma in Modeling Tuberculosis Transmission: A Complex Systems Approach

Authors: *Monica Teran-Hernandez - Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico, Unam, Miguel Aguilar Robledo - Universidad AutÓnoma De San Luis Potosl, Jaqueline Calderon Hernandez - Universidad Autonoma De San Luis Potosl, Carlos Felix Garrocho Rangel - Colegio Mexiquense, Ac

Title: The Spatial Dynamics of oncogenic Human Papillomavirus Infection in women from San Luis Potosí, Mexico: Some Preliminary Results

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (4): Agent-Based Modeling and Sustainability Science

Saturday, 4/17/10, from 2:40 PM - 4:20 PM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Steven M. Manson - University Of Minnesota

Abstracts:

Author: *Qing Tian & Dan Brown - University of Michigan

Abstract Title: Exploring the Dynamics of Sustainability of Coupled Human-Environment Systems using Agent-based Modeling: A Case Study in the Poyang Lake Region of China

Authors: *Dawn C. Parker - University of Waterloo, Daniel G. Brown - University of Michigan
Tatiana Filatova - University of Twente, Rick Riolo - University of Michigan, Derek T. Robinson - University of Michigan, Shipeng Sun - University of Minnesota

Title: A first assessment of the role of land-market dynamics in agent-based land exchange models

Authors: *David A. Bennett - Department of Geography, University of Iowa, Wenwu Tang - Department of Geography and National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Modeling the Sustainable Use of Common-Pool Resources Using Spatially Aware Intelligent Agents

Author: *Luis E. Fernandez - Carnegie Institution for Science

Title: A Coupled Agent Based Model Platform Examining the Sustainability of Biofuels Production in the Brazilian Cerrado

Authors: *Stephen J. Walsh - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill & Carlos F. Mena - Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Title: Land Use Change on Household Farms in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (5): Modeling Land Use and Land Cover Change

Saturday, 4/17/10, from 4:40 PM - 6:20 PM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Suzana Dragicevic - Simon Fraser University

Abstracts:

4:40 PM Authors: *Moira Zellner - University of Illinois-Chicago & Antonio Aguilera - Colegio de San Luis

Abstract Title: Exploring the effects of land use policies in urban-rural fringe areas in the Mexican context: An agent-based approach

5:00 PM Authors: *Tom Evans - Indiana University, Kellly Caylor - Princeton University
Sean Sweeney - Indiana University, Mateus Batistella - EMBRAPA, Juliana Farinaci - University of Campinas, Emilio Moran - Indiana University

Abstract Title: Balancing Social and Ecological Complexity in Models of Reforestation in Indiana (USA) and São Paulo (Brazil)

5:20 PM Authors: *Christopher Bone, Lilian Alessa, Andy Kliskey - Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage & Mark Altaweel - University of Chicago

Abstract Title: Simulating Community Resilience to Freshwater Dynamics with Social Agents

5:40 PM Authors: *Tim Gulden, Gabriel Balan, Jeffrey Bassett, Atesmachew B Hailegiorgis, William G Kennedy - George Mason University & Mark Rouleau - Michigan Technological University

Abstract Title: An agent-based model of land-use driven conflict among pastoralists in the Mandera region of East Africa

6:00 PM Author: *David Donato - United States Geological Survey

Abstract Title: Measuring Conformance of a Grid State to a Stochastic Cellular-Automata Land-Change Model

Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (6): Urban Systems I

Sunday, 4/18/10, from 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Moira Zellner - University of Illinois-Chicago

Abstracts:

8:00 AM Authors: *Suzana Dragicevic & Liliana Perez - Simon Fraser University

Abstract Title: Simulating Disease Outbreak in an Urban Environment: Agent Based Approach

8:20 AM Author: *Atesmachew Hailegiorgis - Department of Computational Social Science, Center of Social Complexity, George Mason University

Abstract Title: Changing Residence in the City: An agent based model of Residential Mobility in Arlington County

8:40 AM Author: *Yichun Xie - Eastern Michigan University

Abstract Title: Simulating Urban Development in Water-constrained Northwest China: A Case Study along the Mid-Section of Silk Road

9:00 AM Authors: *Ninghua Wang - San Diego Stata University/University of California Santa Barbara & Lin Liu - University of Cincinnati

Abstract Title: Analyzing spatial effects of hotspot policing with a simulation approach

9:20 AM Authors: *Dominik P.H. Kalisch, *Hermann Koehler, Reinhard Koenig, Jens Steinhoefel & Frauke Anders - Bauhaus University, Weimar

Abstract Title: Computer-Based Methods for a Socially Sustainable Urban and Regional Planing


Perspectives on Geographic Complexity (7): Urban Systems II

Sunday, 4/18/10, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Washington Room 5, Marriott Exhibition Level

Chair: Andrew Crooks - George Mason University

Abstracts:

Authors: *Fraser Morgan & David O’Sullivan - University of Auckland

Abstract Title: Residential developers: Competition, behaviour and the resulting urban landscape

Authors: *Christian Urich, Robert Sitzenfrei, & Wolfgang Rauch - Unit of Environmental Engineering, University of Innsbruck

Abstract Title: Stochastic Design of Urban Areas for Benchmarking Energy Strategies

Authors: *Raymond Cabrera & Peter J Deadman - University of Waterloo

Abstract Title: Household networks and urbanization in an agent-based model of the Amazonian varzea

Authors: *Jing Wu & Zheng Wang - Chinese Academy of Sciences

Abstract Title: Agent-based simulation of the spatial evolution of the historical population in China

Author: *Hoda Osman - George Mason University

Title: Urban Growth and Land Titling: An agent-based comparative model of two Informal Settlements in Cairo, Egypt


All the sessions are sponsored by the AAG's
Spatial Analysis and Modeling Specialty Group
Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group
Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group

Note * represents the speaker

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

CulturalComplexity.net

I just been exploring culturalcomplexity.net, a website based on the research lab of Cultural Complexity at The University of Western Ontario, Canada.

The lab is interested in understanding processes related "...to the creation, transmission, and representation of culture, and how these processes shape the human experience" combing different academic disciplines (e.g. philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and economics). One thing that caught my attention is the Virtual Laboratory for the Study of Cultural Dynamics (VCL), a NetLogo model which explores how information changes when exchanged among individuals (click here to read more about the model).



The models are a nice example on how different .txt files can be loaded into NetLogo along with how altering certain parameters at run time alters the results. The VCL editor (used to define the world one wishes to simulate) can be found here, while the VCL machine (which then runs the simulation, generating results) can be found here.