.. _ASCEM Overview:

ASCEM Overview
--------------

The Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management
(ASCEM) program is developing a suite of open-source tools and
state-of-the-art approach for integrating data and scientific
understanding to enable prediction of contaminant fate and transport
in natural and engineered systems.  This multi-lab program is
supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental
Management (EM) to provide scientifically defensible and standardized
assessments of the uncertainties and risks associated with the
environmental cleanup and closure of its waste sites.

The ASCEM program is organized into three Thrust Areas: 1) *High
Performance Computing (HPC) Multi-Process Simulator*, 2) *Platform and
Integrated Toolsets*, and 3) *Site Applications*. The HPC Thrust includes
structured and unstructured meshing approaches; new solvers for
coupled physical and geo-biochemical processes; advanced methods of
discretization in time and space; and capabilities to select, and
coordinate the use of problem-specific processes. The Platform Thrust
provides toolsets that facilitate model
setup and analysis, parameter estimation and uncertainty
quantification, risk assessment and decision support, information and
data management, and visualization in a consistent and flexible user
interface and modeling work flow. The Site Application Thrust
coordinates and implements demonstrations through working groups to
provide data and feedback to developers and to ensure that the
software is developed in a manner that will engage users and benefit
DOE EM’s remediation obligations.

*Amanzi* is the flexible and extensible computational engine for
ASCEM that will simulate the coupled processes described by the
conceptual models developed using the ASCEM user environment platform, *Akuna*.
These conceptual models span a range of process complexity in flow and
reactive-transport.  Detailed mathematical descriptions of these
models are provided in the ASCEM document entitled `Mathematical
Formulation Requirements and Specifications for the Process Models`_

.. _Mathematical Formulation Requirements and Specifications for the Process Models: http://software.lanl.gov/ascem/trac/attachment/wiki/Documents/ASCEM-HPC-ProcessModels_2011-01-0a.pdf


