IEMSs Workshop on Identifiability of Environmental Models
University of Florence
June 29-30 2015
Convenors: Stefano Marsili-Libelli and Tony Jakeman
Rationale
Uncertainty quantification of environmental systems is receiving increasing attention especially through the development of sophisticated methods, often statistically-based. Less attention seems to be given by modellers, however, to understand the imperfections in their models and their implications. Practical methods of identifiability analysis can assist greatly here to assess if there is an identifiability problem so that one can proceed to decide if it matters, and if so how to go about modifying the model (transforming parameters, selecting specific data periods, changing model structure, using a more sophisticated objective function).
Workshop Outputs
A suite of relevant methods is available and the major useful ones will be deliberated at the workshop including sensitivity analysis, response surface methods, model emulation and the quantification of uncertainty. The workshop will also address various perspectives and concepts that warrant further development and use. The output will be two papers. One is an Introductory Overview (IO) on identifiability for practitioners in order to increase awareness of its importance. The other is a Position Paper (PP) on the various methods of analysis and illustration of their strengths in different environmental sectors including surface and groundwater hydrology, ecology, economics, ice sheet melting etc. Both the IO and PP will be submitted to the Elsevier journal, Environmental Modelling and Software, for publication. The invited participants will contribute, among other things, the experiences and methods of identifiability that pertain to their problem domains.
Invited Participants
Michael Asher. Australian National University
Philip Brunner, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland
Barry Croke, Australian National University
Joseph Guillaume, Aalto University, Finland
Mary Hill, University of Kansas
John Jakeman, Sandia Laboratories, USA
Karel Keesman, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands
Michela Mulas, Aalto University Finland
Hans Stigter, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands