Biogeochemical Modelling of Sediments, Lakes and Oceans

Abstract

In this course, the students acquire skills to implement, evaluate and analyse the results of basic numerical models for the simulation of biogeochemical processes in aquatic systems using Python, to interpret and document model results, and to critically discuss model limitations. The focus of the course is on practical applications.

Objective

The aim of this course is to encourage and enable students to develop, test and apply basic numerical models for a range of biogeochemical applications, and to interpret model results.

Content

Numerical models are useful tools for the evaluation of processes in complex systems, the interpretion of observational data, and the projection of the response of a system beyond the range of observations. In this course, the students acquire skills to implement and test basic numerical models for the simulation of biogeochemical processes in aquatic systems using Python, to interpret and document model results in written and oral form, and to critically discuss model limitations. The course includes the following topics: - Formulation of transport and reaction equations describing aquatic systems - Numerical recipes (discretization in time and space, finite differences, initial and boundary conditions) - Implementation of simple models in Python (box models, 1D-models, with applications from sediments, lakes, and oceans) - Techniques for applied modelling & model testing (sensitivity analysis, parameter estimation) - Model evaluation against observational data (model evaluation metrics in space and time) - Interpretation and documentation of model results - Model applications in current aquatic research (recent examples from the scientific literature)

Resources