VELMA 2.2 Documentation Website

VELMA - Visualizing Ecosystems for Land Management Assessments - is a spatially distributed, eco- hydrological model that links a land surface hydrology model with a terrestrial biogeochemistry model for simulating the integrated responses of vegetation, soil, and water resources to interacting stressors. For example, VELMA can simulate how changes in climate and land use interact to affect soil water storage, surface and subsurface runoff, vertical drainage, evapotranspiration, vegetation and soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and transport of nitrate, ammonium, and dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen to water bodies. VELMA differs from other existing eco-hydrology models in its simplicity, flexibility, and theoretical foundation. The model has a user-friendly Graphics User Interface (GUI) for easy input of model parameter values. In addition, advanced visualization of simulation results can enhance understanding of results and underlying concepts. VELMA's visualization and interactivity features are packaged in an open-source, open-platform programming environment (Java / Eclipse). The development team for VELMA version 2.0 includes Dr. Bob McKane and coworkers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Western Ecology Division, Dr. Marc Stieglitz and coworkers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Dr. Feifei Pan at the University of North Texas.