Introduction

DINAMICA EGO (Environment for Geoprocessing Objects) software (www.csr.ufmg.br/dinamica) is a spatially explicit, high performance, modeling freeware used by many scholars around the world. Dinamica EGO modeling platform presents outstanding possibilities for the design of spatial models, from analytical to the very complex dynamic ones. These models can ultimately include nested iterations, dynamic feedbacks, multi-region and multi-scale approach, manipulation and algebraic combination of data in several formats - such as maps, tables, matrices and constants - decision processes for bifurcating and joining execution pipelines, and a series of complex spatial algorithms for the analysis and simulation of space-time phenomena.

Dinamica EGO has been applied to numerous environmental studies, including the modeling of deforestation in the Amazon from local to basin-wide scales, urban dynamics, logging and other forestry rents in the Amazon, cattle ranching, forest fires, river regime, biodiversity offsets, and agricultural expansion in Brazil. See a list of publications at www.csr.ufmg.br/dinamica/publications.

What will you learn?

What Dinamica EGO is

How this guidebook is structured

Where are the data and models used in the lessons

Welcome to Dinamica EGO!

The software environment, written in C++ and Java, holds a series of algorithms called functors. Each functor performs an operation. To date, we have implemented the most common spatial analysis algorithms available in commercial GIS (Geographic Information System), plus a series of algorithms especially designed for spatial simulations, including transition functions, calibration and validation methods.

These functors are sequenced to establish data flow in the form of graphs. Through the Dinamica EGO graphical interface one can create models by simply dragging and connecting functors via their ports, which represent connectors to types of data, such as maps, tables, matrices, mathematical expressions and constants. Functors can be enveloped by “containers”, a special type of functor that is used, for example, to execute iterations or process data from specific regions of a map. Thus models can be designed as a diagram and their execution follow a data flow chain. This friendly interface enables designing from simple to very complex spatial models that are saved in a script language in XML format or EGO programming language.

In sum, Dinamica EGO software favors simplicity, flexibility and good performance, optimizing speed and computer resources, such as memory and parallel processing. Most of its algorithms are designed to take advantage of the multicore processor architecture. In addition, Dinamica EGO handles large raster format using disk paging. On the other hand, if memory is available, it can load all the input maps at the beginning of a model execution and keep them in memory only while they are needed. In this way, the software only accesses the disk at the end of an execution to write the final outputs or, if a user specifies, at the end of an iteration to save the output maps from each time step.

Modular Guidebook Structure

The aim of this guidebook is introducing the user to the vast possibilities of Dinamica EGO for the design of space-time models that can fully represent the complexity of various geographic phenomena.
This Guidebook is modular in structure (Modeling Environmental Dynamics with Dinamica EGO). Each module is divided into lessons and is assigned a particular level in a progressive series of steps:
MODULE I: Welcome to Dinamica EGO!
MODULE II: Working with maps on Dinamica EGO
MODULE III: Working with tables on Dinamica EGO
MODULE IV: Creating and using Submodels on Dinamica EGO
MODULE V: Incorporating control structures into a model on Dinamica EGO
MODULE VI: Advanced spatial analyses on Dinamica EGO
MODULE VII: Other Features of Dinamica EGO
MODULE VIII: Other Applications of Dinamica EGO

Links in this Document

This document contains internal links. Clicking on an internal link opens an Dinamica Website. Links are shown in blue and are handled by the system browser.

Download - Models and Inputs

We hope you can learn about the software and use it for countless environmental applications.

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