SBIR Phase I: Creating an Online Interactive Earth Science Environmental Simulator

这个小型企业创新研究计划第一阶段项目将开发一个独特的交互式在线地球科学教育工具，以满足目前地球科学和相关工程技术教学的不足。这一创新将允许学习者进行有关水文和大气过程及其与地球下伏表面特征相互作用的现实模拟实验。该系统将被称为地球科学环境模拟器（ESES），将以跨学科的方式为教授广泛的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）技能和概念提供实质性的好处。应用将包括可再生能源、农业管理、建筑/传感器设计、气候变化影响和应急管理。这项技术克服了一个重大问题，即缺乏对地球科学重要过程教学的实际应用。这些过程极其复杂，影响着地球上的每一个人。研究目标是1)创建一个具有成本效益的在线教育原型工具，2)调查和创建直观的界面和可视化工具，3)做一个有限的教育评估，以确定ESES的教育和商业潜力。该系统的核心软件创新是一系列基于物理的地球科学和应用模型。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是由于地球科学的教育过程受到阻碍，因为地球-大气系统无法带入课堂进行研究和操作。拟议的项目有能力通过将真正的地球科学实验带给学习者，极大地改善这种情况。这项研究的预期深远的好处是，所有的学习者将进一步发展：(1)解决问题和决策能力是现代社会中每个公民所必需的，这些能力从根本上受遵循物理定律的过程所支配，包括地球科学知识及其应用，如气象学、水文学、海洋学、地质学、能源生产和管理、区域和全球气候变化、法医气象学（保险和法律索赔）、农业，甚至其他星球，仅举几例；(2)认识科学能力的优势和局限性，特别是与地球科学有关的能力；(3)短期环境预报（如恶劣天气、洪水、森林火灾运动、有毒物质扩散）与人身安全的相关性意识。

This Small Business Innovative Research Program Phase I project will develop a unique interactive online earth science educational tool that will meet current shortfalls in teaching earth sciences and related engineering technologies. This innovation will allow a learner to conduct realistic simulated experiments concerning hydrological and atmospheric processes and their interactions with underlying surface characteristics of the earth. The system will be called the Earth Science Environmental Simulator (ESES) and will provide a substantial benefit for teaching a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills and concepts in an interdisciplinary approach. Applications will include renewable energy, agricultural management, building/sensor design, climate change impact and emergency management. This technology overcomes the significant problem related to a lack of realistic applications for teaching the processes important to the earth sciences. These processes are extremely intricate, complex and powerful affect every person on our planet. The research objectives are to 1) create a cost effective online educational prototype tool, 2) investigate and create intuitive interface and visualization tools and 3) do a limited educational evaluation in order to determine the ESES educational and commercial potential. The software innovation at the core of this system is a series of physics based earth science and application models. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is brought on by the fact that the educational process in the earth sciences has been hampered because the earth-atmospheric system cannot be brought into the classroom to study and manipulate. The proposed project has the capability to greatly improve this situation by bringing true earth-scientific experimentation to learners. The anticipated far-reaching benefits of this research are that all learners will further develop: (1) problem-solving and decision making capabilities essential to every citizen in a modern society that are fundamentally governed by processes that obey the laws of physics to include the knowledge of the earth science and their application such as meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, geology, energy production and management, regional and global climate change, forensic meteorology (insurance and legal claims), agriculture, and even other planets just to name a few; (2) cognizance of strengths and limitations of science capabilities, especially related to earth science; and (3) awareness of relevance of short term environmental forecasts, e.g. severe weather, flooding, forest fires movement, toxic material dispersion, to personal safety.