Cellular automata and Agent-based models in response to different environmental problems: a review on French research over the last ten years

Abstract

Cellular Automata (CA) and Agent-Based Models (ABM) are used to better assess patterns and processes result-ing from environmental interactions using simple rules. Over the last ten years, the applications have been carriedout on various complex systems: flash floods, fire propagation, river meandering, landscape evolution... The fre-quent use these applications demand are supported by an array of advances in field outside of physical geographyas physics, computer sciences and mathematics. This communication presents common, singular and innovativeapplications observed in French research. On one hand, the CA RuiCells aims at understanding the spatial hy-drological behaviours in all points of one catchment, linking impacts due to basin forms and slopes through localto global scales (Delahaye et al., 2007). The CA Soda has been developed to measure erosion at fine scale, lessthan a few meters (Vallette, 2006). Smoothed-particules can also be implemented in CA to improve dynamics orhydrological fluxes (Drogoul, 1995). On the other hand, ABM appears in geomorphology after first initiatives inecology, sociology or human geography in the 1990's. Modules of CATCHSCAPE allow to simulate the hydrolog-ical system with its distributed water balance, irrigate schemes management, crop and vegetation dynamics (Bécuet al. 2008). For alluvial plains, ABM can also be used to simulate processes between independent interacting enti-ties which behave according to the local environment (Teles et al., 1999). At the opposite, many models have beendeveloped in other countries, as for simulating erosive thresholds (Favis-Mortlock, 1998), lava dynamics (Avolioet al., 2006), fluvial meandering (Coulthard and Van de Wiel, 2006), evolution of coasts (Dearing et al., 2005) anddunes (Thomas and Nicholas, 2007). Consequently, this communication addresses the debate on two questions:why French geomorphologist researchers are late in applying CA and ABMs, and is the simplification in processeshad led to change research questions or to offer new perspectives