The Environmental Scenario Generator

摘要

The US Department of Defense (DoD) Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Master Plan (Under Secretary of Defense, 1995) has as an objective that the next generation of M&S programs will be able to utilize authoritative representations of the natural environment. The ability to model highly realistic representations of the environment exists today, but the ability to properly build a scenario that meets the requirements of a given simulation while still maintaining inter and intra environmental domain consistency has not yet been developed. The Environmental Scenario Generator (ESG) will automate the generation of logically integrated and physically consistent representations of the natural environment through the use of the data and modeling resources available in the Master Environmental Library (MEL). The ESG provides the ability to locate desired environmental conditions in historical data archives, and then orchestrate the production of scenario databases based on those events. The ESG is being developed as a series of intelligent Java processing modules that provide data mining and scenario production capabilities for any registered environmental data type. The services ESG provides are split into two categories: real-time and just-in-time. A design goal for the ESG system is to provide real-time interaction while the user develops a scenario specification for their simulation exercise. The real-time activities include the user's queries of the historical archives for desired conditions, the browsing of historical events that are potential matches, and the specification of the content of the desired scenario database. Once the user has defined the required content and spatial and temporal bounds of the scenario database, production of the database will take place in a just-in-time mode ― meaning that user will define a required delivery time and the scenario database will be ready for delivery prior to that time. The ESG system is therefore made up of three components: a real-time server focused on data mining of historical archives, a just-in-time server focused on scenario production, and a client application that resides on the user's local system and communicates with these servers. The ESG program was started in FY-98 by the Air & Space Natural Environment (ASNE) Modeling and Simulation Executive Agent (MSEA), who provides program management for the sponsor, the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO). The initial focus of ESG has been on atmospheric data archives and modeling capabilities. In FY-99, space and ocean data resources are being added, and in FY-00 space and ocean models and dynamic terrain data will be added to provide a fully integrated environmental scenario generation capability.