This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will extend a model- based reasoning approach (Functional Reasoning) to large-scale biogeochemical modeling. Functional Reasoning is a methodology for device knowledge capture. Because it has the potential for allowing complex systems to be modeled from a quantitative, top-down perspective, it is ideally suited for addressing recalcitrant problems in biology in which more is known about the end result (e.g. atmospheric concentrations of biogenic trace gases) than is known about the biological interactions giving rise to the end result. Before Functional Reasoning can be used in real world settings, a method to allow simulation of highly interactive sub-systems of devices must be developed. This is the objective of the work. This research is interdisciplinary (between Computer Science and Ecological Modeling). It will provide a theoretical approach for attacking very pressing problems such as issues of global change.
