Ecosphere iQ
Environmental Industry Solutions
Environmental Decision Support Systems
4D-iQ provides industry solutions for the environment in the form of decision support systems which simulate the real world by modeling processes such as water flow, erosion potential and dispersion of pollutants into the environment. These models allow decision makers to arrive at optimum environmental solutions.
Other applications include flood analysis and surface drainage, water quality and water pollution analysis, mining waste analysis and alternative energy solutions.
The customized wizard approach leads the user through the more complex procedures while intelligence embedded in the software handles the finer points of the analyses.
Hydrological Modeling
How and where will water be channeled over the ground surface in the event of flooding? To which areas and extent will pollution be spread by ground surface flow?
The Ambercore team has extensive experience in advanced modeling of river networks and watersheds and in complex analyses which model the behavior of water flowing over the surface of the earth.
Modeling techniques include flow routing, hierarchical ordering schemes for stream networks, the modeling of drainage direction and methods for computing drainage patterns over flat topography.
4D-iQ applies these analytical capabilities to industry solutions for flood analysis, water pollution, water quality, the determination of erosion potential and others.
Environmental Pollution Modeling
What will be the extent of the dispersion of pollutants into the environment over time?
By modeling the many ways that pollutants can be dispersed into the environment, the effects over time can be determined and their extent estimated. Mathematical models have been developed which simulate pollutant dispersion by wind erosion, water erosion and ground drainage.
What would be the pollution effect in certain scenarios or under extreme conditions?
4D-iQ can model "what if" scenarios to arrive at solutions which prevent, minimize, contain or limit negative effects to the environment. Using customized wizard-based technology, users can explore the impact of extreme conditions and the effects over long periods of time and model pollution mitigating factors and their costs.
Mining Waste Disposal Modeling
Another area where the 4D-iQ team has used its expertise to develop modeling algorithms is in the field of mining waste disposal. Fine grained tailings can be thickened to a paste and pumped to suitable locations for disposal and containment using a technology known as Thickened Tailings Deposition (TTD).
4D-iQ determines optimal solutions for the placement of tailings by modeling the shape, size and composition of the material. The behavior of the waste material is simulated to predict how much the material will slump and slide on various terrain and diverse slopes. Different logistic cost models are then created depending on the methods of transporting materials to candidate sites in different ways.
Environmental Erosion Modeling
In what ways will constructing a road or built up area change the erosion potential of the terrain?
4D-iQ models physical changes to the terrain such as adding a road, building up an area, carrying out excavations or dumping waste material. These models are used to determine how these physical modifications will influence the drainage patterns and the erosion potential of the surrounding area.
What is the erosion potential of a site and how can damage by erosion be mitigated?
4D-iQ has algorithms to determine the existing erosion potential of a site and compare and model the effects of proposed improvements. These include increasing vegetation cover, constructing containment barriers and the alternative placement of man made obstructions.
Alternative Energy and Logistics Modeling
What will be the cost and benefits of providing alternative energy sources at a site?
4D-iQ has developed mathematical models to explore different scenarios for providing alternative energy sources for a mine, industrial plant or a small town. Input information includes regional characteristics, meteorological data, equipment costs for producing alternative energy and price trend predictions.
What are the most favorable solutions and costs for disposing of waste material in different areas?
4D-iQ’s logistic modeling algorithms calculate the optimum cost of transporting materials to different sites and the cost of modifying the terrain to accommodate and contain waste material at these sites.
