A Grid Service Module for Natural-Resource Managers.pdf

Dali Wang, Eric A. Carr, Mark R. Palmer, Michael W. Berry, and Louis J. Gross University of Tennessee, Knoxville A Grid Service Module for Natural-Resource Managers To facilitate transparent use of the high-performance Across Trophic-Level System Simulation (ATLSS) ecosystem-modeling package for natural-resource management, the authors developed a grid service module. The module exploits grid middleware functionality to process complex computation without requiring users to handle underlying issues. It represents the first application of grid computing to this discipline and provides a potential template for researchers in other disciplines to exploit scientific computation without extensive training in high-performance computing. During the past two decades,researchers have developed a vari-ety of ecological models that serve as useful tools for natural-resource man- agement. Those models can summarize information on a resource, determine where gaps exist, extrapolate across them, and simulate scenarios to evaluate the outcomes of various management deci- sions.1 However, poor integration with existing models and the lack of new ones keep ecological models from being used effectively in natural-resource manage- ment.2 Moreover, natural-resource man- agers typically have little experience or training in scientific computing. For new modeling applications to be effective, developers must therefore create new computational methodologies to let users perform complex simulations without extensive additional training. As ecological models become more complex, their computational demands make it prudent to have tools that can carry out the simulations and associated visualizations. Fortunately, developments in high-performance networks, computers, and information services now make it fea- sible to incorporate remote computing and information resources into local computa- tional environments. Specifically, grid computing has emerged as one of the most important new devel