A domain specific language for spatial simulation scenarios

This article describes DSL3S, a domain specific modelling language for Spatial Simulation in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Techniques such as cellular automata and agent-based modelling have long been used to capture and simulate the temporal dynamics of spatial information. Too...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:GeoInformatica 2016-01, Vol.20 (1), p.117-149
Main Authors: Moreira de Sousa, Luís, Rodrigues da Silva, Alberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cellular automata
Computer programming
Computer Science
Computer simulation
Data Structures and Information Theory
Earth and Environmental Science
Geographic information systems
Geographical Information Systems/Cartography
Geography
Geospatial data
Information Storage and Retrieval
Infrastructure
Modelling
Multimedia Information Systems
Programming languages
Remote sensing
Robots
Satellite navigation systems
Spatial analysis
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Summary:This article describes DSL3S, a domain specific modelling language for Spatial Simulation in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Techniques such as cellular automata and agent-based modelling have long been used to capture and simulate the temporal dynamics of spatial information. Tools commonly employed to implement spatial simulation models include code libraries and pre-compiled models; the former require advanced programming skills while the latter impose relevant constraints on application scope. Previous attempts to produce domain specific languages in the field have invariably resulted in new textual programming languages (e.g. SELES, NetLogo, Ocelet) that are platform specific and in some cases with weak GIS support and interoperability. DSL3S synthesises relevant concepts of spatial simulation in a UML profile, that allows the design of simulation models through the arrangement of graphical elements. An implementation of this language is also presented, that relies on Model Driven Development (MDD) tools distributed with the Eclipse IDE. This includes a code generation infrastructure, that produces ready to run simulations from DSL3S models, supported by the MASON simulation tool-kit. Finally, DSL3S models for three simple and classical simulations allows to better illustrate and discuss the usage of the language.
ISSN:1384-6175
1573-7624
DOI:10.1007/s10707-015-0233-y