Equation-based models are a set of interrelated equations that capture the variability of a system over time (differential equations), and the execution (simulation) of the model means to evaluate such equations. Equation-based models do not aim at representing the behaviour of the individual components in a system. Rather, they focus on the overall or aggregate behaviour of a system. Therefore, equation-based models are well suited to represent physical processes and some topics within natural sciences, where the system to some degree can be described by physical laws. Hydrological modelling is a good example of models based on equations. However, other real-world systems can rarely be fully described by the laws of the natural sciences, and their behavior and interrelation must be represented by means of other types of mathematical mechanisms. The aim of this topic is to present the advantages and challenges in using equation-based simulation models, which are most naturally applied to systems centrally governed by physical laws rather than by information processing and flow.
Differentiate between individual and aggregate models
Understand how models are translated into differential equations for execution
Completed (GI-N2K)