Identify useful variables and assemble metadata

Subtask Description:
Describing the model at process and functional levels.

Action points of the implementation:

The previous stage (System Design) resulted in a preliminary conceptual model of the “virtual system” comprising from the cause-&-effect chain and the related ecosystem and socio-economic components. Review this model, revise if necessary, and identify the processes and state variables that will be simulated and the functional units that will be used to group them. Distinguish the parts of the conceptual model that will be included in the simulation models from those which will be the subject of other analyses.
Prepare a draft table of key processes for each functional unit in the simulation model.
Identify the state variables in each functional unit.
Write equations for the model state variables and processes, noting the sources for these equations.
Check the equations for correct dimensions and units in each term and for conservation of mass or energy where appropriate.
Identify the parameters for which values will be needed, and either find sources for these or note that they will be estimated by fitting simulations to observations.

Result: A description of the model in diagrams and tables.

Area:
Barcelona Coast, Spain

Policy Issue:
Investigation of the effects of changes in water quality on the aesthetic & recreational aspects of the beaches

Human Activities:
Large scale urban & industrial activity, tourism.

General Information:
The quality of the water in the various beaches is affected significantly during heavy storms. Wastewater treatment plants are unable to deal with the sudden increase of inflow and the capacity of storm collectors is often insufficient to temporarily store this water for later treatment. This results in large quantities of untreated wastewater being released into the coast, causing bacteria concentration to exceed safety levels thus obliging the beach authorities to temporarily prohibit bathing or just causing aesthetic degradation that prohibits beach users from bathing. Reduced use of the coastal water influences the beach users decision whether to stay at the beach or to leave, thus affecting the revenue received by the local businesses and being an important stakeholder concern.

Example of Implementation:

Comments:
This subtask can help to keep track of the formulation of the model and document it more efficiently, as it provides transparency to each formulated process and gives adequate information to the external reader about the use of the process, the inputs and outputs and, most importantly, the references when available. Here, the example provided demonstrated part of the formulation of the natural component designed for Barcelona beach. In this example, information about the validation of each process is also provided, along with information about the location of the process in the used software.

Contact: Ben Tomlinson, tomlinson@icm.csic.es .