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A method for integrating multiple components in a decision support system

Informally Refereed

Abstract

We present a flexible, extensible method for integrating multiple tools into a single large decision support system (DSS) using a forest ecosystem management DSS (NED-2) as an example. In our approach, a rich ontology for the target domain is developed and implemented in the internal data model for the DSS. Semi-autonomous agents control external components and communicate using a blackboard. We illustrate how this multi-agent approach with its blackboard architecture supports the expansion of a DSS (in this case, NED-2) to incorporate new models and decision support tools as the ybecome available. The exemplar NED-2 DSS developed using this method is a goal-driven DSS that integrates a sophisticated inventory system, treatment plan development, growth-and-yield models, wildlife models, fire risk models, knowledge based systems for goal satisfaction analysis, and a powerful report generation system.

Keywords

Agents, Blackboard architecture, Ecosystem management, Decision support system, Knowledge based system, Regeneration, Fire risk analysis

Citation

Nute, Donald; Potter, Walter D.; Cheng, Zhiyuan; Dass, Mayukh; Glende, Astrid; Maierv, Frederick; Routh, Cy; Uchiyama, Hajime; Wang, Jin; Witzig, Sarah; Twery, Mark; Knopp, Peter; Thomasma, Scott; Rauscher, H. Michael. 2005. A method for integrating multiple components in a decision support system. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 49 (2005) 44-59
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/20817