Environmental informatics is the science of information applied to

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical ...

. As such, it provides the

information processing Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process that ''describes'' everything that happens (changes) in the universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in posi ...

and communication infrastructure to the interdisciplinary field of environmental sciences aiming at data, information and

knowledge integration Knowledge integration is the process of synthesizing multiple knowledge models (or representations) into a common model (representation). Compared to information integration, which involves merging information having different schemas and represe ...

, the application of

computational intelligence The expression computational intelligence (CI) usually refers to the ability of a computer to learn a specific task from data or experimental observation. Even though it is commonly considered a synonym of soft computing, there is still no ...

environmental data Environmental data is that which is based on the measurement of environmental pressures, the state of the environment and the impacts on ecosystems. This is usually the "P", "S" and "I" of the DPSIR model where D = Drivers, P = Pressures, S = Stat ...

as well as the identification of environmental impacts of

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

. The UK

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...

defines environmental informatics as the "research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information." Kostas Karatzas defined environmental informatics as the "creation of a new 'knowledge-paradigm' towards serving environmental management needs." Karatzas argued further that environmental informatics "is an integrator of

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

, methods and techniques and not just the result of using

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

and software technology methods and tools for serving

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

needs." Environmental informatics emerged in early 1990 in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...

.B. Page, V. Wohlgemuth. Advances in Environmental Informatics: Integration of Discrete Event Simulation Methodology with ecological Material Flow Analysis for Modelling eco-efficient Systems, Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 2, International Conference on Ecological Informatics and Ecosystem Conservation (ISEIS 2010), 2010, Pages 696-705, ISSN 1878-0296, Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse environmental and ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of fields like environmental informatics and

ecoinformatics Ecoinformatics, or ecological informatics, is the science of information in ecology and environmental science. It integrates environmental and information sciences to define entities and natural processes with language common to both humans and c ...

to develop the foundations for effectively managing ecological information. Examples of these initiatives are

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Datanet DataNet, or Sustainable Digital Data Preservation and Access Network Partner was a research program of the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Cyberinfrastructure. The office announced a request for proposals with this title on September 2 ...

projects,

DataONE DataONE is a network of interoperable data repositories facilitating data sharing, data discovery, and open science. Originally supported by $21.2 million in funding from the US National Science Foundation as one of the initial DataNet programs ...

and Data Conservancy.

Conferences

*EnviroInf
20132012
*Environmental Information Managemen
20112008
*International Conference on Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithm
ICANNGA
*International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S
20142013
*International Conference on Information Technologies in Environmental Engineerin
2013
*International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software (iEMSs
201420122010
*International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM
2013
*International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems (ISESS
20132011

Journals

ACM Transactions on Sensor NetworksComputers and Electronics in AgricultureEarth Science InformaticsEarth System Science DataEnvironmental Earth SciencesEnvironmental Modelling and SoftwareEnvironmental Monitoring and AssessmentIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote SensingInternational Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information SystemsInternational Journal of Digital EarthInternational Journal of Distributed Sensor NetworksInternational Journal of Sensor NetworksJournal of Environmental InformaticsJournal of Environmental Informatics Letters

Institutions

Aalto University
Environmental Infomatics
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Informatics Applications and Systems Group, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering: Teaching and Research on Environmental Informatics and Quality of Life Information Services *

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

Environmental Informatics Research GroupInstitute for Environmental Analytics
Applied environmental informatics, based at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, UK *

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asia ...

Environmental Informatics, a research instituteLancaster Environment Center
Centre for environmental informatics
Lincoln University
GIS and Environmental Informatics
Masaryk University
Division of environmental informatics and modeling
Northern Arizona University
PhD in Environmental Informatics

Environmental informatics
RISSAC
Department of environmental informatics, research institute for soil science and agricultural chemistry, Hungarian academy of sciences
Stanford University
Sustainable development & environmental informatics

Department of Mechanical and Environmental Informatics
TU Graz
Research focus area in environmental informatics
University of California, Irvine
Bren school environmental informatics research
University of Dayton
Center of excellence for strategic energy and environmental informatics
University of Eastern Finland
Division of environmental informatics within the department of environmental science at Kuopio Campus
University of Hamburg
Research in environmental informatics

Environmental informatics undergraduate program
University of Marburg
Physical Geography: Environmental Informatics
University of Michigan
Environmental informatics GIS and modeling graduate program *

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Austral ...

Environmentla Informatics postgraduate courseUniversity of Oldenburg
Division of environmental informatics
University of Sunderland
Centre for environmental informatics
University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin
Research and undergraduate program

Professional Science Graduate Program: Environmental Informatics
Vienna University of Technology
Doctoral College: Environmental Informatics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Undergraduate Program: Environmental Informatics

Collaborations

DataONE
Data Observation Network for Earth
Data Conservancy
Leading the movement to build data management tools and services across institutions and disciplines

References

{{Informatics Environmental science Information science Information technology Computational fields of study