Skip to main content

Visual Access to Optimization Problems in Strategic Environmental Assessment

  • Conference paper
Advances in Visual Computing (ISVC 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNIP,volume 8034))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The complexity of actual decision making problems especially in the field of policy making is increasing due to conflicting aspects to be considered. Methods from the field of strategic environmental assessment consider environmental, economic, and social impacts caused by political decisions. This makes the analysis of reasonable decisions more complex. Mathematical models like optimization can help to balance conflicting aspects. Although they are not easy to understand, these complex models and the resulting policy options have to be reviewed by the decision makers. In this work we present a visual-interactive interface to an optimization system capable of solving multidimensional decision problems. The interface enables visual access to the complex optimization models, and the analysis of alternative solutions. As a result strategic environmental assessment can be included in the decision making process. An evaluation in the domain of regional energy planning underlines the usability and usefulness of the visual interface.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Ware, C.: Information Visualization: Perception for Design. Morgan Kaufmann series in interactive technologies. Elsevier Science (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Fischer, T.B.: The theory and practice of strategic environmental assessment: towards a more systematic approach. Earthscan (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Therivel, R.: Strategic Environmental Assessment in Action. Taylor & Francis (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Dalal-Clayton, D., Sadler, B.: Strategic Environmental Assessment: A Sourcebook and Reference Guide to International Experience. Earthscan LLC (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Gavanelli, M., Riguzzi, F., Milano, M., Cagnoli, P.: Constraint and optimization techniques for supporting policy making. Computational Intelligent Data Analysis for Sustainable Development (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  6. You, F., Tao, L., Graziano, D.J., Snyder, S.W.: Optimal design of sustainable cellulosic biofuel supply chains: Multiobjective optimization coupled with life cycle assessment and input - output analysis. AIChE Journal 58 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lim, S.R., Suh, S., Kim, J.H., Park, H.S.: Urban water infrastructure optimization to reduce environmental impacts and costs. Journal of Environmental Management (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Few, S.: Now You See it: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis. Analytics Press (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kohlhammer, J., Nazemi, K., Ruppert, T., Burkhardt, D.: Toward visualization in policy modeling. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 32 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Booshehrian, M., Möller, T., Peterman, R.M., Munzner, T.: Vismon: Facilitating analysis of trade-offs, uncertainty, and sensitivity in fisheries management decision making. Computer Graphics Forum 31 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Heaps, C.: Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system. Stockholm Environment Institute. Somerville, MA, USA (2012), http://www.energycommunity.org

  12. Markovic, D., Cvetkovic, D., Masic, B.: Survey of software tools for energy efficiency in a community. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Matkovic, K., Gracanin, D., Jelovic, M., Ammer, A., Lez, A., Hauser, H.: Interactive visual analysis of multiple simulation runs using the simulation model view: Understanding and tuning of an electronic unit injector. Published in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 16 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Sadler, B.: Strategic Environmental Assessment at the Policy Level: Recent Progress, Current Status and Future Prospects. Ministry of the Environment, Czech Republic (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Jones, C.: Visualization and Optimization. Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series. Kluwer Acad. Publ. (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Guillen-Gosalbez, G., Grossmann, I.: A global optimization strategy for the environmentally conscious design of chemical supply chains under uncertainty in the damage assessment model. Computers & Chemical Engineering 34 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Agarwal, R.K.: Assessment and optimization of an airplane’s environmental impact, aircraft engineering and aerospace. Technology 85 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ruppert, T., Bernard, J., Kohlhammer, J.: Bridging knowledge gaps in policy analysis with information visualization. In: Conf. on Electronic Government (to be published, 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Harrower, M., Brewer, C.A.: Colorbrewer.org: An online tool for selecting colour schemes for maps. The Cartographic Journal 40 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Ruppert, T., Bernard, J., Ulmer, A., Kuijper, A., Kohlhammer, J. (2013). Visual Access to Optimization Problems in Strategic Environmental Assessment. In: Bebis, G., et al. Advances in Visual Computing. ISVC 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8034. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41939-3_35

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41939-3_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41938-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41939-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics