Open AccessThe Fourth Dimension of Interdisciplinary Modeling
Author(s) -
Biondi Franco
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of contemporary water research and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1936-704X
pISSN - 1936-7031
DOI - 10.1111/j.1936-704x.2013.03166.x
Subject(s) - dimension (graph theory) , strengths and weaknesses , perspective (graphical) , data science , coping (psychology) , proxy (statistics) , human dimension , computer science , epistemology , management science , operations research , psychology , artificial intelligence , social psychology , engineering , political science , mathematics , law , machine learning , philosophy , psychiatry , pure mathematics , human rights
Space and time are the domains used by every model in the applied environmental sciences, with the latter normally considered to add a fourth dimension to our simulated versions of reality. Dealing with modern challenges in water‐related disciplines requires that we extend our historical perspective as far back as possible to capture underlying long‐term dynamics that would otherwise be impossible to detect. At the same time, performing and interpreting retrospective studies demands an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Here I attempt to clarify both the importance of the past and the inevitable “paleo conundrum” associated with it by drawing on personal experience and on research projects conducted using tree‐ring records in the western U.S. How to best incorporate proxy data, together with instrumental observations, into models used to manage water resources for coping with an uncertain future remains a non‐trivial task.