Water-food Nexus : modeling and analysis

Teacher(s)

Alonso Alice (compensates Vanclooster Marnik); Javaux Mathieu (coordinator); Vanclooster Marnik;

Language

French

Content

Part 1: Principles of environmental modeling.
- What is a model: definition and modeling of a system, the definition of a model, scientific modeling stage.
- Environmental models: typology of models, characteristics associated with models (spatial and temporal resolution, etc).
- Calibration and validation of models, sensitivity analysis, uncertainties.
- Ex-ante and ex-post simulation.
- Optimisation.
Part 2: Application of modeling to water management and food production.
- Yield prediction model based on water availability (e.g. AquaCrop)
- Water allocation model (e.g. WEAP)
For both types of models, the student will be required to:
- Understand the structure of the model and its limitations.
- Parameterise the models using generic data (climate databases, remote sensing, etc.).
- Use the model to carry out ex-ante simulations, applied to a context of southern countries, taking into account different possible evolution scenarios (climate, population, food demand).
Part 3: Decision-making in complex problems.
- Multi-criteria analysis methods.
- Application to modelling results.

Teaching methods

Theoretical course: lectures in the auditorium, supported by video clips. 
Exercise part: Exercises in the computer room, using open source software (Python, GEE, QGIS-SWAT, WEAP, AquaCrop ...)
Due to the limited capacity of the auditoriums (COVID-19 crisis), some courses can be given at a distance

Evaluation methods

The students implement a mini-project related to their home watershed

Online resources

- Presentations on Moodle platform
- Manual of reference software

Faculty or entity

AGRO