Graphical representation of global water models

Abstract. Numerical models are simplified representations of the real world at a finite level of complexity. Global water models are used to simulate the terrestrial part of the global water cycle, and their outputs contribute to the evaluation of important natural and societal issues, including water availability, flood risk, and ecological functioning. Whilst global water modeling is an area of science that has developed over several decades, and individual model-specific descriptions exist for some models, there has to date been no attempt to visualize the ways that several models work, using a standardized visualization framework. Here, we address this gap by presenting a community-driven process that developed a framework to visualize several global water models. The models considered participate in the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project phase 2b (ISIMIP2b). The diagrams were co-produced between a graphics designer and 16 modeling teams, based on extensive discussions and pragmatic decision-making that balanced the need for accuracy and detail against the need for effective visualization. The model diagrams are based on a standardized ISIMIP2b-complete global water model that represents what is theoretically possible to represent in the current generation of state-of-the-art global water models participating in ISIMIP2b. Model-specific diagrams are then copies of the ISIMIP2b-complete model, with individual processes either included or grayed out. An open-source tool has been developed and published jointly with the diagrams, which allows someone to generate a diagram for their own global water model by adapting the diagrams presented here. As well as serving an educational purpose, we envisage that the diagrams will help researchers in and outside of the global water model community to select suitable model(s) for specific applications, stimulate a community learning process, and identify missing components to help direct future model developments.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geoscientific model development
Published
2025-04-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2409-2025
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.27

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article

Graphical representation of global water models

Laura Müller, Harsh L. Shah, Oldřich Rakovec, Junguo Liu et al.
4 citations
Geoscientific model development
Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
3.27
article

Graphical representation of global water models

Laura Müller, Harsh L. Shah, Oldřich Rakovec, Junguo Liu, Lauren Seaby Andersen, Yusuke Satoh, Tokuta Yokohata, Peter Burek, Camelia-Eliza Telteu, Jinfeng Chang, Guoyong Leng, Yoshihide Wada, Naota Hanasaki, Vimal Mishra, Inga Menke, He Chen, Aristeidis Koutroulis, Luca Guillaumot, Rohini Kumar, Edwin H. Sutanudjaja, Manolis Grillakis, Wim Thiery, Tobias Stacke, Atiq Kainan Ahmed, Niko Wanders, Xingcai Liu, Athanasios Tsilimigkras, Julien Boulangé, Yadu Pokhrel, Simon N. Gosling, Luis Samaniego, Hannes Müller Schmied, Lukas Gudmundsson, Mikhail Smilovic, Marlo Garnsworthy
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Abstract. Numerical models are simplified representations of the real world at a finite level of complexity. Global water models are used to simulate the terrestrial part of the global water cycle, and their outputs contribute to the evaluation of important natural and societal issues, including water availability, flood risk, and ecological functioning. Whilst global water modeling is an area of science that has developed over several decades, and individual model-specific descriptions exist for some models, there has to date been no attempt to visualize the ways that several models work, using a standardized visualization framework. Here, we address this gap by presenting a community-driven process that developed a framework to visualize several global water models. The models considered participate in the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project phase 2b (ISIMIP2b). The diagrams were co-produced between a graphics designer and 16 modeling teams, based on extensive discussions and pragmatic decision-making that balanced the need for accuracy and detail against the need for effective visualization. The model diagrams are based on a standardized ISIMIP2b-complete global water model that represents what is theoretically possible to represent in the current generation of state-of-the-art global water models participating in ISIMIP2b. Model-specific diagrams are then copies of the ISIMIP2b-complete model, with individual processes either included or grayed out. An open-source tool has been developed and published jointly with the diagrams, which allows someone to generate a diagram for their own global water model by adapting the diagrams presented here. As well as serving an educational purpose, we envisage that the diagrams will help researchers in and outside of the global water model community to select suitable model(s) for specific applications, stimulate a community learning process, and identify missing components to help direct future model developments.

Geoscientific model developmentVol. 18(8)
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE), University of Nottingham (GB), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KR), University of Potsdam (DE), Utrecht University (NL), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (CN), National Institute for Environmental Studies (JP), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ), Mahidol University (TH), Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IN), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), Leibniz Association (DE), ETH Zurich (CH), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Climate Analytics (DE), Maya Educational Foundation (US), Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (FR), Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (CN), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (DE), Technical University of Crete (GR), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), Zhejiang University (CN), Michigan State University (US), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (JP)
National Science Foundation, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
3.27
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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