Modelling the submerged vegetation in the Orbetello lagoon with fuzzy cellular automata

Authors:	Marsili-Libelli Stefano, University of Florence, Italy Giusti Elisabetta, University of Florence, Italy
Topic:	8.3 Modelling & Control of Environmental Systems
Session:	Modeling and Control of Environmental Systems
Keywords:	Cellular logic, fuzzy modelling, ecology, environmental engineering, water pollution.

Abstract

This paper describes the evolution in time and space of the submerged vegetation in a lagoon. This model was developed for the Orbetello Lagoon Management Office to predict the development of both macroalgae and macrophytes and test the actions to favour the latter. Based on a previous model describing the interactions between nutrients and the submerged vegetation, this paper presents a further improvement introducing a cellular automata to describe the dynamics of wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima) and a hydrodynamic model for the water movements. The link among them is represented by the dependence of friction coefficients from the vegetation density.