This short document presents a series of questions that may help you to design a decision-support groundwater model. It is not long; it takes three minutes (or less) to read.
The intent of these questions is to help modellers think about their design choices as they build a decision-support model. Of course, these choices will be subjective. Nevertheless, they should be based on the premise that the purpose of decision-support modelling is to harvest information, and to deliver that information to where it is most needed – the point at which decisions are being made. Decision-makers also need to know the risks that they are taking. So part of the role of decision-support modelling is to clarify the management repercussions of information insufficiency.
Sometimes it is easy to forget the goals of decision-support modelling when under the relentless pressure of making model design choices, and worrying about whether these choices will be accepted by others. Hopefully, this questionnaire provides a reference point for some of these choices, at the same time as it assists in their justification.
The intent of these questions is to help modellers think about their design choices as they build a decision-support model. Of course, these choices will be subjective. Nevertheless, they should be based on the premise that the purpose of decision-support modelling is to harvest information, and to deliver that information to where it is most needed – the point at which decisions are being made. Decision-makers also need to know the risks that they are taking. So part of the role of decision-support modelling is to clarify the management repercussions of information insufficiency.
Sometimes it is easy to forget the goals of decision-support modelling when under the relentless pressure of making model design choices, and worrying about whether these choices will be accepted by others. Hopefully, this questionnaire provides a reference point for some of these choices, at the same time as it assists in their justification.