The Dynamic Information Architecture System (DIAS) is a flexible, extensible, object-based framework for developing and maintaining complex multidisciplinary simulations. The DIAS infrastructure makes it feasible to build and manipulate complex simulation scenarios in which many thousands of objects can interact via dozens to hundreds of concurrent dynamic processes. The flexibility and extensibility of the DIAS software infrastructure stem mainly from (1) the abstraction of object behaviors, (2) the encapsulation and formalization of model functionality, and (3) the mutability of domain object contents. DIAS simulation objects are inherently capable of highly flexible and heterogeneous spatial realizations. Geospatial graphical representation of DIAS simulation objects is addressed via the GeoViewer, an object-based GIS toolkit application developed at ANL. DIAS simulation capabilities have been extended by inclusion of societal process models generated by the Framework for Addressing Cooperative Extended Transactions (FACET), another object-based framework developed at Argonne National Laboratory. By using FACET models to implement societal behaviors of individuals and organizations within larger DIAS-based natural systems simulations, it has become possible to conveniently address a broad range of issues involving interaction and feedback among natural and societal processes. Example DIAS application areas discussed in this paper include a dynamic virtual oceanic environment, detailed simulation of clinical, physiological, and logistical aspects of health care delivery, and studies of agricultural sustainability of urban centers under environmental stress in ancient Mesopotamia.
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