Mathematical description

Here is documentation for some of the existing modules we provide with Mobius2.

The mathematical description is auto-generated based on the model files.

It is useful to look at the central model concepts to understand what we mean by certain concepts in the descriptions (“parameter”, “state variable”, “flux”, etc.).

Notation

Since the mathematical description is auto-generated from the model code, it follows some conventions that are more code-like than math-like:

Blocks

If several equations are stacked on top of one another, the upper ones declare sub-expressions that are used below, while the bottom line is the value of the whole expression. For instance, in

\[a = 15 \\ a\cdot 100 + a^2\]

It is \(a\cdot 100\) that is the value of the expression, while \(a = 15\) declares a value used in that expression. This can sometimes be combined with an outer expression:

\[\begin{pmatrix} a = 15 \\ a\cdot 100 + a^2 \end{pmatrix} \cdot 50\]

In this case, the value of the outer expression is \((a\cdot 100 + a^2)\cdot 50\).

Unit conversions

If you see something of the form \((\mathrm{expression} \rightarrow \mathrm{unit})\) means that the expression on the left is converted to the unit on the right, typically using a multiplier. For instance

\[(Q \rightarrow \mathrm{m}^3\,\mathrm{s}^{-1})\]

means that \(Q\) is converted to the unit \(\mathrm{m}^3\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\). So if \(Q\) initially has unit \(\mathrm{l}\,\mathrm{day}^{-1}\), this resolves to

\[Q\cdot \frac{1}{1000\cdot 86400}\]

If you see a double right arrow \((\mathrm{expression} \Rightarrow \mathrm{unit})\) it means that the unit of the expression is discarded and replaced with the new unit, while the numerical value of the expression is kept. If you see \((\mathrm{expression} \Rightarrow 1)\), it means that the expression is put on dimensionless form (i.e. with unit 1).

If-expressions

In if-expressions, a condition implicitly includes the exclusion of the conditions above it. For instance in the example

\[a = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{if}\; b > 5 \\ 2 & \text{if}\; b > 3 \\ 3 & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}\]

the condition \(b > 3\) in line 2 implies the exclusion of the above condition \(b > 5\), so that the implied condition in line 2 is \(3 < b \leq 5\).


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© Norsk Institutt for Vannforskning (The Norwegian Institute for Water Research), NIVA 2024.