Planning and management of environmental systems

Research focus

The Peer review has evaluated this group as Excellent

The goal of this research area is to develop mathematical models for the quantitative analysis and management of environmental systems. Anthropic pressure does seriously threaten these systems at both global and local scales. This forces the adoption of more efficient and sustainable resource use and transparent and shareable decision processes. An important contribution in this direction is provided by modeling and computer-based tools that can rapidly store and process large amounts of data so that any proposed action can be tested and evaluated before being implemented. This improves the efficiency and reduces the risk of taking the wrong decision. The mathematical models we develop and implement describe both the natural dynamics of the environmental systems and the decision framework, namely the structure of those controls and actions that can modify the system behavior. Such models can be quite different from those traditionally used in basic science, such as physics, since it is often necessary to focus mainly on macroscopic effects, especially on the connections between the system and the neighboring world and among systems. This is made possible by using highly interdisciplinary techniques (derived from systems analysis, control theory, optimization and artificial intelligence) and with modern information tools (such as decision support systems, geographical information systems, computer aided modeling and simulation). The research is constantly focused toward solving real world problems and case studies, in cooperation with other departments of our university: DIIAR (for studies in hydrology, air and water pollution and land mapping), DIAP (for urban planning), Mathematics (for model development and numerical methods), Energetics (for renewable energy). Our group is also instrumental to the functioning of CIRITA, the Interdepartmental Center for Research in Environmental Informatics. Research activities are performed with the collaboration and funding of various public institutions in Italy (e.g., ARPA, CNR, CESI) and in Europe (through FP5 and FP6) and in close contact with several international research centers (in particular: Princeton University, Lancaster University, Western Australia University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem). More precisely, the topics dealt with in this area comprise: - The management of air and water quality. The dynamics of air and water pollution is studied with deterministic and stochastic models both for short term prediction of quality conditions and to assess optimal long term plans for pollution reduction. - Participated policies for the management of water resources. The design of off-line and adaptive management policies based on Reinforcement Learning and classical Control Theory is mainly investigated as well as model reduction techniques of complex distributed models. The focus is on the integration of mathematical models and stakeholder participation for the management of large water reservoir and distribution networks. - Sustainable exploitation of ecosystems, in particular of fish resources. Alternative management policies are assessed under a multi-objective perspective that integrates economic, social and environmental viewpoints and accounts for environmental and demographic uncertainty. Simple mechanistic models for plant-animal interactions. Proposal and analysis of novel mathematical models for identifying the key mechanisms that originate spatial patterns of trees in forests. Model selection in population time series. Development and testing of new methods based on Statistical Learning Theory to distinguish between linear and nonlinear ecological models. Special attention is devoted to devising robust methods for short time series. 265 Analysis of the extinction risk in fragmented landscapes. Habitat loss is one of the main causes of species extinction. We develop spatially implicit and explicit models to discuss the effects of different conservation policies on the probability of species persistence.

Departments

Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione (DEI)

Professors

Marino Gatto (full professor)
Giorgio Guariso (full professor)
Sergio Rinaldi (full professor)
Rodolfo Soncini Sessa (full professor)
Renato Casagrandi (associate professor)
Andrea Castelletti (assistant professor)
Alessandra Gragnani (assistant professor)
Paco Melià (assistant professor)