ICON-ModEx

The ICON-ModEx study began in 2021 and ended in 2023. This project was based on an iterative ICON-ModEx approach facilitated by WHONDRS and Parallel Works. New data generation across the contiguous United States (CONUS) was guided by artificial intelligence (AI) models. Iteration occurred as new data were ingested by the AI models, which provided updated guidance for further data based on crowdsourced samples.

Graphic showing the approach for ICOM ModEx
Figure from Malhotra et al. 2025

For more information, see the following journal articles: 

  • Gary S. F., et al. 2024. “Prediction of distributed river sediment respiration rates using community-generated data and machine learning.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation, 1, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JH000199    
  • Malhotra, A., et al. 2025. Harnessing artificial intelligence to automate environmental predictions. bioRxiv; https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.06.684583  

Data Access 

Forbes B., M. Barnes, B. T. Boehnke, M. E. Bowden, X. Chen, K. Cornwell, M. Crawford, D. Delgado, S. G. Fulton, V. A. Garayburu-Caruso, S. Gary, A. E. Goldman, B. I. Gonzalez, S. Grieger, G. E. Hammond, P. Jiang, M. H. Kaufman, M. Laan, B. Li, Z. Li, S. A. McKever, M. K. Mudunuru, K. A. Muller, A. Myers-Pigg, J. A. Ocejo, O. Otenburg, A. Pelly, K. Peta, B. Powers-McCormack, P. Regier, L. Renteria, A. Roebuck, T. D. Scheibe, K. Son, M. M. Tfaily, J. M. Torgeson, J. C. Stegen. WHONDRS Consortium T (2023): WHONDRS River Corridor Sediment and Water Geochemistry and In Situ Sensor Data from Machine-Learning-Informed Sites across the Contiguous United States (v6). River Corridor and Watershed Biogeochemistry SFA, ESS-DIVE repository. Dataset. doi:10.15485/1923689   

Funding 

Funding for this project is provided by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Environmental Systems Science (ESS) Program and the DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.