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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental economics
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Model-Based Decision Support Methodology with Environmental Applications (Paperback, Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2000)
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Model-Based Decision Support Methodology with Environmental Applications (Paperback, Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2000)
Series: Mathematical Modelling: Theory and Applications, 9
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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The complexity of issues requiring rational decision making grows
and thus such decisions are becoming more and more difficult,
despite advances in methodology and tools for decision support and
in other areas of research. Globalization, interlinks between
environmental, industrial, social and political issues, and rapid
speed of change all contribute to the increase of this complexity.
Specialized knowledge about decision-making processes and their
support is increasing, but a large spectrum of approaches presented
in the literature is typically illustrated only by simple examples.
Moreover, the integration of model-based decision support
methodologies and tools with specialized model-based knowledge
developed for handling real problems in environmental, engineering,
industrial, economical, social and political activities is often
not satisfactory. Therefore, there is a need to present the state
of art of methodology and tools for development of model-based
decision support systems, and illustrate this state by applications
to various complex real-world decision problems. The monograph
reports many years of experience of many researchers, who have not
only contributed to the developments in operations research but
also succeeded to integrate knowledge and craft of various
disciplines into several modern decision support systems which have
been applied to actual complex decision-making processes in various
fields of policy making. The experience presented in this book will
be of value to researchers and practitioners in various fields. The
issues discussed in this book gain in importance with the
development of the new era of the information society, where
information, knowledge, and ways of processing them become a
decisive part of human activities. The examples presented in this
book illustrate how how various methods and tools of model-based
decision support can actually be used for helping modern decision
makers that face complex problems. Overview of the contents: The
first part of this three-part book presents the methodological
background and characteristics of modern decision-making
environment, and the value of model-based decision support thus
addressing current challenges of decision support. It also provides
the methodology of building and analyzing mathematical models that
represent underlying physical and economic processes, and that are
useful for modern decision makers at various stages of decision
making. These methods support not only the analysis of
Pareto-efficient solutions that correspond best to decision maker
preferences but also allow the use of other modeling concepts like
soft constraints, soft simulation, or inverse simulation. The
second part describes various types of tools that are used for the
development of decision support systems. These include tools for
modeling, simulation, optimization, tools supporting choice and
user interfaces. The described tools are both standard,
commercially available, and nonstandard, public domain or shareware
software, which are robust enough to be used also for complex
applications. All four environmental applications (regional water
quality management, land use planning, cost-effective policies
aimed at improving the European air quality, energy planning with
environmental implications) presented in the third part of the book
rely on many years of cooperation between the authors of the book
with several IIASA's projects, and with many researchers from the
wide IIASA network of collaborating institutions. All these
applications are characterized by an intensive use of model-based
decision support. Finally, the appendix contains a short
description of some of the tools described in the book that are
available from IIASA, free of charge, for research and educational
purposes. The experiences reported in this book indicate that the
development of DSSs for strategic environmental decision making
should be a joint effort involving experts in the subject area,
modelers, and decision support experts. For the other experiences
discussed in this book, the authors stress the importance of good
data bases, and good libraries of tools. One of the most important
requirements is a modular structure of a DSS that enhances the
reusability of system modules. In such modular structures, user
interfaces play an important role. The book shows how modern
achievements in mathematical programming and computer sciences may
be exploited for supporting decision making, especially about
strategic environmental problems. It presents the methodological
background of various methods for model-based decision support and
reviews methods and tools for model development and analysis. The
methods and tools are amply illustrated with extensive
applications. Audience: This book will be of interest to
researchers and practitioners in the fields of model development
and analysis, model-based decision analysis and support,
(particularly in the environment, economics, agriculture,
engineering, and negotiations areas) and mathematical programming.
For understanding of some parts of the text a background in
mathematics and operational research is required but several
chapters of the book will be of value also for readers without such
a background. The monograph is also suitable for use as a text book
for courses on advanced (Master and Ph.D.) levels for programs on
Operations Research, decision analysis, decision support and
various environmental studies (depending on the program different
parts of the book may be emphasized).
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