Ontology-Based Simulation Applied to Soil, Water, and Nutrient Management

Ontology-based simulation is an approach to modeling in which an ontology is used to represent all elements of a model. In this approach, modeling is viewed as a knowledge representation problem rather than a software engineering problem. Ontology-based techniques can be applied to describe system structure, represent equations and symbols, establish connections to external databases, manage model bases, and integrate models with additional information resources. Ontology reasoners have the potential to automatically compare, organize, search for, and discover models and model elements. We present an environment for building simulations based on the Lyra ontology management system, which includes Web-based visual design tools used for constructing models. An example application based on a model of soil, water, and nutrient management in citrus that uses the approach is also presented.