Programmable Process Structures of Unified Elements for Model-Based Planning and Operation of Complex Agri-environmental Processes

Nowadays, complex agri-environmental systems are supported by new generations of sensors and data acquisition methodologies of Information Technology. However, the decisions about the integrated development of agriculture-related sustainable and resilient process networks require the consideration of the causally determined balances of the underlying complex interactions. Accordingly, the computer-assisted planning and operation of agri-environmental processes inspire the development of new, easily modifiable, extensible, and connectable modeling and simulation methodologies. In the past years, the method of Programmable Process Structures (PPS) has been implemented for studying of various complex agri-environmental processes. Here, PPS will be illustrated by case studies for a recirculation aquaculture system, for a complex food web-involved fishpond, and for an agroforestry system. The chapter aims to illustrate the role of dynamic modeling and simulation in support of planning and decisions at various levels, utilizing the same general framework of PPS.