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Computersimulation
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Thisarticleisaboutcomputermodelwithinascientificcontext.Forsimulatingacomputeronacomputer,seeemulator.
"Computermodel"redirectshere.Forcomputermodelsof3dimensionalobjects,see3Dmodeling.
Acomputersimulationisasimulation,runonasinglecomputer,oranetworkof
computers,toreproducebehaviorofasystem.Thesimulationusesanabstractmodel
(acomputermodel,oracomputationalmodel)tosimulatethesystem.Computer
simulationshavebecomeausefulpartofmathematicalmodelingofmanynatural
systemsinphysics(computationalphysics),astrophysics,climatology,chemistryand
biology,humansystemsineconomics,psychology,socialscience,andengineering.
Simulationofasystemisrepresentedastherunningofthesystem'smodel.Itcanbe
usedtoexploreandgainnewinsightsintonewtechnologyandtoestimatethe
performanceofsystemstoocomplexforanalyticalsolutions.[1]
Computersimulationsvaryfromcomputerprogramsthatrunafewminutesto
networkbasedgroupsofcomputersrunningforhourstoongoingsimulationsthat
runfordays.Thescaleofeventsbeingsimulatedbycomputersimulationshasfar
exceededanythingpossible(orperhapsevenimaginable)usingtraditionalpaper
andpencilmathematicalmodeling.Over10yearsago,adesertbattlesimulationof
oneforceinvadinganotherinvolvedthemodelingof66,239tanks,trucksandother
vehiclesonsimulatedterrainaroundKuwait,usingmultiplesupercomputersinthe
DoDHighPerformanceComputerModernizationProgram[2]Otherexamplesinclude
a1billionatommodelofmaterialdeformation[3]a2.64millionatommodelofthe
complexmakerofproteininallorganisms,aribosome,in2005[4]acomplete
simulationofthelifecycleofMycoplasmagenitaliumin2012andtheBlueBrain
projectatEPFL(Switzerland),beguninMay2005tocreatethefirstcomputer
simulationoftheentirehumanbrain,rightdowntothemolecularlevel.[5]

A48hourcomputersimulationofTyphoonMawarusingthe
WeatherResearchandForecastingmodel

Becauseofthecomputationalcostofsimulation,computerexperimentsareusedtoperforminferencesuchasuncertaintyquantification.[6]

Contents

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Contents
1 Simulationversusmodel
2 History
3 Datapreparation
4 Types
5 Visualization
6 Computersimulationinscience
6.1 Simulationenvironmentsforphysicsandengineering
7 Computersimulationinpracticalcontexts
8 Pitfalls
8.1 Modelcalibrationtechniques
9 Seealso
10 References
11 Furtherreading

Simulationversusmodel
Acomputermodelisthealgorithmsandequationsusedtocapturethebehaviorofthesystembeingmodeled.Bycontrast,acomputersimulationisthe
actualrunningoftheprogramthatcontainstheseequationsoralgorithms.Simulation,therefore,istheprocessofrunningamodel.Thusonewouldnot
"buildasimulation"instead,onewould"buildamodel",andtheneither"runthemodel"orequivalently"runasimulation".
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History
Computersimulationdevelopedhandinhandwiththerapidgrowthofthecomputer,followingitsfirstlargescaledeploymentduringtheManhattan
ProjectinWorldWarIItomodeltheprocessofnucleardetonation.Itwasasimulationof12hardspheresusingaMonteCarloalgorithm.Computer
simulationisoftenusedasanadjunctto,orsubstitutefor,modelingsystemsforwhichsimpleclosedformanalyticsolutionsarenotpossible.Thereare
manytypesofcomputersimulationstheircommonfeatureistheattempttogenerateasampleofrepresentativescenariosforamodelinwhicha
completeenumerationofallpossiblestatesofthemodelwouldbeprohibitiveorimpossible.

Datapreparation
Theexternaldatarequirementsofsimulationsandmodelsvarywidely.Forsome,theinputmightbejustafewnumbers(forexample,simulationofa
waveformofACelectricityonawire),whileothersmightrequireterabytesofinformation(suchasweatherandclimatemodels).
Inputsourcesalsovarywidely:
Sensorsandotherphysicaldevicesconnectedtothemodel
Controlsurfacesusedtodirecttheprogressofthesimulationinsomeway
Currentorhistoricaldataenteredbyhand
Valuesextractedasabyproductfromotherprocesses
Valuesoutputforthepurposebyothersimulations,models,orprocesses.
Lastly,thetimeatwhichdataisavailablevaries:
"invariant"dataisoftenbuiltintothemodelcode,eitherbecausethevalueistrulyinvariant(e.g.,thevalueof)orbecausethedesignersconsider
thevaluetobeinvariantforallcasesofinterest
datacanbeenteredintothesimulationwhenitstartsup,forexamplebyreadingoneormorefiles,orbyreadingdatafromapreprocessor
datacanbeprovidedduringthesimulationrun,forexamplebyasensornetwork.
Becauseofthisvariety,andbecausediversesimulationsystemshavemanycommonelements,therearealargenumberofspecializedsimulation
languages.ThebestknownmaybeSimula(sometimescalledSimula67,aftertheyear1967whenitwasproposed).Therearenowmanyothers.
Systemsthatacceptdatafromexternalsourcesmustbeverycarefulinknowingwhattheyarereceiving.Whileitiseasyforcomputerstoreadinvalues
fromtextorbinaryfiles,whatismuchharderisknowingwhattheaccuracy(comparedtomeasurementresolutionandprecision)ofthevaluesare.Often
theyareexpressedas"errorbars",aminimumandmaximumdeviationfromthevaluerangewithinwhichthetruevalue(isexpectedto)lie.Because

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digitalcomputermathematicsisnotperfect,roundingandtruncationerrorsmultiplythiserror,soitisusefultoperforman"erroranalysis"[7]toconfirm
thatvaluesoutputbythesimulationwillstillbeusefullyaccurate.
Evensmallerrorsintheoriginaldatacanaccumulateintosubstantialerrorlaterinthesimulation.Whileallcomputeranalysisissubjecttothe"GIGO"
(garbagein,garbageout)restriction,thisisespeciallytrueofdigitalsimulation.Indeed,observationofthisinherent,cumulativeerrorindigitalsystems
wasthemaincatalystforthedevelopmentofchaostheory.

Types
Computermodelscanbeclassifiedaccordingtoseveralindependentpairsofattributes,including:
Stochasticordeterministic(andasaspecialcaseofdeterministic,chaotic)seeexternallinksbelowforexamplesofstochasticvs.deterministic
simulations
Steadystateordynamic
Continuousordiscrete(andasanimportantspecialcaseofdiscrete,discreteeventorDEmodels)
Dynamicsystemsimulation,e.g.electricsystems,hydraulicsystemsormultibodymechanicalsystems(describedprimarelybyDAE:s)or
dynamicssimulationoffieldproblems,e.g.CFDofFEMsimulations(describedbyPDE:s).
Localordistributed.
Anotherwayofcategorizingmodelsistolookattheunderlyingdatastructures.Fortimesteppedsimulations,therearetwomainclasses:
Simulationswhichstoretheirdatainregulargridsandrequireonlynextneighboraccessarecalledstencilcodes.ManyCFDapplicationsbelong
tothiscategory.
Iftheunderlyinggraphisnotaregulargrid,themodelmaybelongtothemeshfreemethodclass.
Equationsdefinetherelationshipsbetweenelementsofthemodeledsystemandattempttofindastateinwhichthesystemisinequilibrium.Such
modelsareoftenusedinsimulatingphysicalsystems,asasimplermodelingcasebeforedynamicsimulationisattempted.
Dynamicsimulationsmodelchangesinasysteminresponseto(usuallychanging)inputsignals.
Stochasticmodelsuserandomnumbergeneratorstomodelchanceorrandomevents
Adiscreteeventsimulation(DES)manageseventsintime.Mostcomputer,logictestandfaulttreesimulationsareofthistype.Inthistypeof
simulation,thesimulatormaintainsaqueueofeventssortedbythesimulatedtimetheyshouldoccur.Thesimulatorreadsthequeueandtriggers
neweventsaseacheventisprocessed.Itisnotimportanttoexecutethesimulationinrealtime.Itisoftenmoreimportanttobeabletoaccessthe
dataproducedbythesimulationandtodiscoverlogicdefectsinthedesignorthesequenceofevents.
Acontinuousdynamicsimulationperformsnumericalsolutionofdifferentialalgebraicequationsordifferentialequations(eitherpartialor
ordinary).Periodically,thesimulationprogramsolvesalltheequationsandusesthenumberstochangethestateandoutputofthesimulation.
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Applicationsincludeflightsimulators,constructionandmanagementsimulationgames,chemicalprocessmodeling,andsimulationsofelectrical
circuits.Originally,thesekindsofsimulationswereactuallyimplementedonanalogcomputers,wherethedifferentialequationscouldbe
representeddirectlybyvariouselectricalcomponentssuchasopamps.Bythelate1980s,however,most"analog"simulationswererunon
conventionaldigitalcomputersthatemulatethebehaviorofananalogcomputer.
Aspecialtypeofdiscretesimulationthatdoesnotrelyonamodelwithanunderlyingequation,butcannonethelessberepresentedformally,is
agentbasedsimulation.Inagentbasedsimulation,theindividualentities(suchasmolecules,cells,treesorconsumers)inthemodelare
representeddirectly(ratherthanbytheirdensityorconcentration)andpossessaninternalstateandsetofbehaviorsorrulesthatdeterminehow
theagent'sstateisupdatedfromonetimesteptothenext.
Distributedmodelsrunonanetworkofinterconnectedcomputers,possiblythroughtheInternet.Simulationsdispersedacrossmultiplehost
computerslikethisareoftenreferredtoas"distributedsimulations".Thereareseveralstandardsfordistributedsimulation,includingAggregate
LevelSimulationProtocol(ALSP),DistributedInteractiveSimulation(DIS),theHighLevelArchitecture(simulation)(HLA)andtheTestand
TrainingEnablingArchitecture(TENA).

Visualization
Formerly,theoutputdatafromacomputersimulationwassometimespresentedinatableoramatrixshowinghowdatawereaffectedbynumerous
changesinthesimulationparameters.Theuseofthematrixformatwasrelatedtotraditionaluseofthematrixconceptinmathematicalmodels.
However,psychologistsandothersnotedthathumanscouldquicklyperceivetrendsbylookingatgraphsorevenmovingimagesormotionpictures
generatedfromthedata,asdisplayedbycomputergeneratedimagery(CGI)animation.Althoughobserverscouldnotnecessarilyreadoutnumbersor
spoutmathformulas,fromobservingamovingweathercharttheymightbeabletopredictevents(and"seethatrainwasheadedtheirway")muchfaster
thanbyscanningtablesofraincloudcoordinates.Suchintensegraphicaldisplays,whichtranscendedtheworldofnumbersandformulae,sometimes
alsoledtooutputthatlackedacoordinategridoromittedtimestamps,asifstrayingtoofarfromnumericdatadisplays.Today,weatherforecasting
modelstendtobalancetheviewofmovingrain/snowcloudsagainstamapthatusesnumericcoordinatesandnumerictimestampsofevents.
Similarly,CGIcomputersimulationsofCATscanscansimulatehowatumormightshrinkorchangeduringanextendedperiodofmedicaltreatment,
presentingthepassageoftimeasaspinningviewofthevisiblehumanhead,asthetumorchanges.
OtherapplicationsofCGIcomputersimulationsarebeingdevelopedtographicallydisplaylargeamountsofdata,inmotion,aschangesoccurduringa
simulationrun.

Computersimulationinscience
Genericexamplesoftypesofcomputersimulationsinscience,whicharederivedfromanunderlyingmathematicaldescription:
anumericalsimulationofdifferentialequationsthatcannotbesolvedanalytically,theoriesthatinvolvecontinuoussystemssuchasphenomenain
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physicalcosmology,fluiddynamics(e.g.,climatemodels,roadwaynoisemodels,roadwayairdispersionmodels),continuummechanicsand
chemicalkineticsfallintothiscategory.
astochasticsimulation,typicallyusedfordiscretesystemswhereeventsoccurprobabilisticallyandwhichcannotbedescribeddirectlywith
differentialequations(thisisadiscretesimulationintheabovesense).
Phenomenainthiscategoryincludegeneticdrift,biochemicalorgene
regulatorynetworkswithsmallnumbersofmolecules.(seealso:MonteCarlo
method).
Specificexamplesofcomputersimulationsfollow:
statisticalsimulationsbaseduponanagglomerationofalargenumberofinput
profiles,suchastheforecastingofequilibriumtemperatureofreceiving
waters,allowingthegamutofmeteorologicaldatatobeinputforaspecific
locale.Thistechniquewasdevelopedforthermalpollutionforecasting.
agentbasedsimulationhasbeenusedeffectivelyinecology,whereitisoften
called"individualbasedmodeling"andisusedinsituationsforwhich
individualvariabilityintheagentscannotbeneglected,suchaspopulation
dynamicsofsalmonandtrout(mostpurelymathematicalmodelsassumeall
troutbehaveidentically).
timesteppeddynamicmodel.Inhydrologythereareseveralsuchhydrology
transportmodelssuchastheSWMMandDSSAMModelsdevelopedbythe
U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyforriverwaterqualityforecasting.
computersimulationshavealsobeenusedtoformallymodeltheoriesof
Processofbuildingacomputermodel,andtheinterplaybetween
humancognitionandperformance,e.g.,ACTR
experiment,simulation,andtheory.
computersimulationusingmolecularmodelingfordrugdiscovery
computersimulationforstudyingtheselectivesensitivityofbondsby
mechanochemistryduringgrindingoforganicmolecules.[8]
Computationalfluiddynamicssimulationsareusedtosimulatethebehaviourofflowingair,waterandotherfluids.One,twoandthree
dimensionalmodelsareused.Aonedimensionalmodelmightsimulatetheeffectsofwaterhammerinapipe.Atwodimensionalmodelmightbe
usedtosimulatethedragforcesonthecrosssectionofanaeroplanewing.Athreedimensionalsimulationmightestimatetheheatingandcooling
requirementsofalargebuilding.
Anunderstandingofstatisticalthermodynamicmoleculartheoryisfundamentaltotheappreciationofmolecularsolutions.Developmentofthe
PotentialDistributionTheorem(PDT)allowsthiscomplexsubjecttobesimplifiedtodowntoearthpresentationsofmoleculartheory.
Notable,andsometimescontroversial,computersimulationsusedinscienceinclude:DonellaMeadows'World3usedintheLimitstoGrowth,James
Lovelock'sDaisyworldandThomasRay'sTierra.
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Simulationenvironmentsforphysicsandengineering
Graphicalenvironmentstodesignsimulationshavebeendeveloped.Specialcarewastakentohandleevents(situationsinwhichthesimulation
equationsarenotvalidandhavetobechanged).TheopenprojectOpenSourcePhysicswasstartedtodevelopreusablelibrariesforsimulationsinJava,
togetherwithEasyJavaSimulations,acompletegraphicalenvironmentthatgeneratescodebasedontheselibraries.

Computersimulationinpracticalcontexts
Computersimulationsareusedinawidevarietyofpracticalcontexts,suchas:
analysisofairpollutantdispersionusingatmosphericdispersionmodeling
designofcomplexsystemssuchasaircraftandalsologisticssystems.
designofnoisebarrierstoeffectroadwaynoisemitigation
modelingofapplicationperformance[9]
flightsimulatorstotrainpilots
weatherforecasting
forecastingofrisk
simulationofothercomputersisemulation.
forecastingofpricesonfinancialmarkets(forexampleAdaptiveModeler)
behaviorofstructures(suchasbuildingsandindustrialparts)understressandotherconditions
designofindustrialprocesses,suchaschemicalprocessingplants
strategicmanagementandorganizationalstudies
reservoirsimulationforthepetroleumengineeringtomodelthesubsurfacereservoir
processengineeringsimulationtools.
Computersimulationoftheprocessof
robotsimulatorsforthedesignofrobotsandrobotcontrolalgorithms
osmosis
urbansimulationmodelsthatsimulatedynamicpatternsofurbandevelopmentandresponsestourban
landuseandtransportationpolicies.SeeamoredetailedarticleonUrbanEnvironmentSimulation.
trafficengineeringtoplanorredesignpartsofthestreetnetworkfromsinglejunctionsovercitiestoanationalhighwaynetworktotransportation
systemplanning,designandoperations.SeeamoredetailedarticleonSimulationinTransportation.
modelingcarcrashestotestsafetymechanismsinnewvehiclemodels.
cropsoilsystemsinagriculture,viadedicatedsoftwareframeworks(e.g.BioMA,OMS3,APSIM)
Thereliabilityandthetrustpeopleputincomputersimulationsdependsonthevalidityofthesimulationmodel,thereforeverificationandvalidationare
ofcrucialimportanceinthedevelopmentofcomputersimulations.Anotherimportantaspectofcomputersimulationsisthatofreproducibilityofthe
results,meaningthatasimulationmodelshouldnotprovideadifferentanswerforeachexecution.Althoughthismightseemobvious,thisisaspecial
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pointofattentioninstochasticsimulations,whererandomnumbersshouldactuallybesemirandomnumbers.Anexceptiontoreproducibilityare
humanintheloopsimulationssuchasflightsimulationsandcomputergames.Hereahumanispartofthesimulationandthusinfluencestheoutcome
inawaythatishard,ifnotimpossible,toreproduceexactly.
Vehiclemanufacturersmakeuseofcomputersimulationtotestsafetyfeaturesinnewdesigns.Bybuildingacopyofthecarinaphysicssimulation
environment,theycansavethehundredsofthousandsofdollarsthatwouldotherwiseberequiredtobuildandtestauniqueprototype.Engineerscan
stepthroughthesimulationmillisecondsatatimetodeterminetheexactstressesbeingputuponeachsectionoftheprototype.[10]
Computergraphicscanbeusedtodisplaytheresultsofacomputersimulation.Animationscanbeusedtoexperienceasimulationinrealtime,e.g.,in
trainingsimulations.Insomecasesanimationsmayalsobeusefulinfasterthanrealtimeorevenslowerthanrealtimemodes.Forexample,fasterthan
realtimeanimationscanbeusefulinvisualizingthebuildupofqueuesinthesimulationofhumansevacuatingabuilding.Furthermore,simulation
resultsareoftenaggregatedintostaticimagesusingvariouswaysofscientificvisualization.
Indebugging,simulatingaprogramexecutionundertest(ratherthanexecutingnatively)candetectfarmoreerrorsthanthehardwareitselfcandetect
and,atthesametime,logusefuldebugginginformationsuchasinstructiontrace,memoryalterationsandinstructioncounts.Thistechniquecanalso
detectbufferoverflowandsimilar"hardtodetect"errorsaswellasproduceperformanceinformationandtuningdata.

Pitfalls
Althoughsometimesignoredincomputersimulations,itisveryimportanttoperformasensitivityanalysistoensurethattheaccuracyoftheresultsis
properlyunderstood.Forexample,theprobabilisticriskanalysisoffactorsdeterminingthesuccessofanoilfieldexplorationprograminvolves
combiningsamplesfromavarietyofstatisticaldistributionsusingtheMonteCarlomethod.If,forinstance,oneofthekeyparameters(e.g.,thenetratio
ofoilbearingstrata)isknowntoonlyonesignificantfigure,thentheresultofthesimulationmightnotbemoreprecisethanonesignificantfigure,
althoughitmight(misleadingly)bepresentedashavingfoursignificantfigures.

Modelcalibrationtechniques
Thefollowingthreestepsshouldbeusedtoproduceaccuratesimulationmodels:calibration,verification,andvalidation.Computersimulationsaregood
atportrayingandcomparingtheoreticalscenarios,butinordertoaccuratelymodelactualcasestudiestheyhavetomatchwhatisactuallyhappening
today.Abasemodelshouldbecreatedandcalibratedsothatitmatchestheareabeingstudied.Thecalibratedmodelshouldthenbeverifiedtoensure
thatthemodelisoperatingasexpectedbasedontheinputs.Oncethemodelhasbeenverified,thefinalstepistovalidatethemodelbycomparingthe
outputstohistoricaldatafromthestudyarea.ThiscanbedonebyusingstatisticaltechniquesandensuringanadequateRsquaredvalue.Unlessthese
techniquesareemployed,thesimulationmodelcreatedwillproduceinaccurateresultsandnotbeausefulpredictiontool.

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Modelcalibrationisachievedbyadjustinganyavailableparametersinordertoadjusthowthemodeloperatesandsimulatestheprocess.Forexample,in
trafficsimulation,typicalparametersincludelookaheaddistance,carfollowingsensitivity,dischargeheadway,andstartuplosttime.Theseparameters
influencedriverbehaviorsuchaswhenandhowlongittakesadrivertochangelanes,howmuchdistanceadriverleavesbetweenhiscarandthecarin
frontofit,andhowquicklyadriverstartstoacceleratethroughanintersection.Adjustingtheseparametershasadirecteffectontheamountoftraffic
volumethatcantraversethroughthemodeledroadwaynetworkbymakingthedriversmoreorlessaggressive.Theseareexamplesofcalibration
parametersthatcanbefinetunedtomatchcharacteristicsobservedinthefieldatthestudylocation.Mosttrafficmodelshavetypicaldefaultvaluesbut
theymayneedtobeadjustedtobettermatchthedriverbehavioratthespecificlocationbeingstudied.
Modelverificationisachievedbyobtainingoutputdatafromthemodelandcomparingthemtowhatisexpectedfromtheinputdata.Forexample,in
trafficsimulation,trafficvolumecanbeverifiedtoensurethatactualvolumethroughputinthemodelisreasonablyclosetotrafficvolumesinputinto
themodel.Tenpercentisatypicalthresholdusedintrafficsimulationtodetermineifoutputvolumesarereasonablyclosetoinputvolumes.Simulation
modelshandlemodelinputsindifferentwayssotrafficthatentersthenetwork,forexample,mayormaynotreachitsdesireddestination.Additionally,
trafficthatwantstoenterthenetworkmaynotbeableto,ifcongestionexists.Thisiswhymodelverificationisaveryimportantpartofthemodeling
process.
Thefinalstepistovalidatethemodelbycomparingtheresultswithwhatisexpectedbasedonhistoricaldatafromthestudyarea.Ideally,themodel
shouldproducesimilarresultstowhathashappenedhistorically.ThisistypicallyverifiedbynothingmorethanquotingtheRsquaredstatisticfromthe
fit.Thisstatisticmeasuresthefractionofvariabilitythatisaccountedforbythemodel.AhighRsquaredvaluedoesnotnecessarilymeanthemodelfits
thedatawell.Anothertoolusedtovalidatemodelsisgraphicalresidualanalysis.Ifmodeloutputvaluesdrasticallydifferfromhistoricalvalues,it
probablymeansthereisanerrorinthemodel.Beforeusingthemodelasabasetoproduceadditionalmodels,itisimportanttoverifyitfordifferent
scenariostoensurethateachoneisaccurate.Iftheoutputsdonotreasonablymatchhistoricvaluesduringthevalidationprocess,themodelshouldbe
reviewedandupdatedtoproduceresultsmoreinlinewithexpectations.Itisaniterativeprocessthathelpstoproducemorerealisticmodels.
Validatingtrafficsimulationmodelsrequirescomparingtrafficestimatedbythemodeltoobservedtrafficontheroadwayandtransitsystems.Initial
comparisonsarefortripinterchangesbetweenquadrants,sectors,orotherlargeareasofinterest.Thenextstepistocomparetrafficestimatedbythe
modelstotrafficcounts,includingtransitridership,crossingcontrivedbarriersinthestudyarea.Thesearetypicallycalledscreenlines,cutlines,and
cordonlinesandmaybeimaginaryoractualphysicalbarriers.Cordonlinessurroundparticularareassuchasacity'scentralbusinessdistrictorother
majoractivitycenters.Transitridershipestimatesarecommonlyvalidatedbycomparingthemtoactualpatronagecrossingcordonlinesaroundthe
centralbusinessdistrict.
Threesourcesoferrorcancauseweakcorrelationduringcalibration:inputerror,modelerror,andparametererror.Ingeneral,inputerrorandparameter
errorcanbeadjustedeasilybytheuser.Modelerrorhoweveriscausedbythemethodologyusedinthemodelandmaynotbeaseasytofix.Simulation
modelsaretypicallybuiltusingseveraldifferentmodelingtheoriesthatcanproduceconflictingresults.Somemodelsaremoregeneralizedwhileothers
aremoredetailed.Ifmodelerroroccursasaresult,inmaybenecessarytoadjustthemodelmethodologytomakeresultsmoreconsistent.

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Inordertoproducegoodmodelsthatcanbeusedtoproducerealisticresults,thesearethenecessarystepsthatneedtobetakeninordertoensurethat
simulationmodelsarefunctioningproperly.Simulationmodelscanbeusedasatooltoverifyengineeringtheories,buttheyareonlyvalidifcalibrated
properly.Oncesatisfactoryestimatesoftheparametersforallmodelshavebeenobtained,themodelsmustbecheckedtoassurethattheyadequately
performtheintendedfunctions.Thevalidationprocessestablishesthecredibilityofthemodelbydemonstratingitsabilitytoreplicateactualtraffic
patterns.Theimportanceofmodelvalidationunderscorestheneedforcarefulplanning,thoroughnessandaccuracyoftheinputdatacollectionprogram
thathasthispurpose.Effortsshouldbemadetoensurecollecteddataisconsistentwithexpectedvalues.Forexample,intrafficanalysisitistypicalfora
trafficengineertoperformasitevisittoverifytrafficcountsandbecomefamiliarwithtrafficpatternsinthearea.Theresultingmodelsandforecasts
willbenobetterthanthedatausedformodelestimationandvalidation.

Seealso
Computerexperiment
Emergence
Emulator
Insilico
Greyboxcompletionandvalidation
Meshfreemethods
Molecularmechanics
Proceduralanimation
Stencilcode
Virtualprototyping
Webbasedsimulation
WenHoLee,ascientistwhocreatedsimulationsofnuclearexplosionsforthepurposesofscientificinquiry

References
1.
2.
3.
4.

Strogatz,Steven(2007)."TheEndofInsight".InBrockman,John.Whatisyourdangerousidea?.HarperCollins.ISBN9780061214950
""ResearchersstagelargestMilitarySimulationever"(http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/97/military.html),JetPropulsionLaboratory,Caltech,December1997,
"MolecularSimulationofMacroscopicPhenomena".
"Largestcomputationalbiologysimulationmimicslife'smostessentialnanomachine"(news),NewsRelease,NancyAmbrosiano,LosAlamosNationalLaboratory,
LosAlamos,NM,October2005,webpage:LANLFusestory7428(http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/7428).
5. "Missiontobuildasimulatedbrainbegins"(http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7470.html),projectoftheinstituteatthecolePolytechniqueFdralede
Lausanne(EPFL),Switzerland,NewScientist,June2005.
6. Santner,ThomasJ,Williams,BrianJ,Notz,WilliamI(2003).Thedesignandanalysisofcomputerexperiments.SpringerVerlag.
7. JohnRobertTaylor(1999).AnIntroductiontoErrorAnalysis:TheStudyofUncertaintiesinPhysicalMeasurements.UniversityScienceBooks.pp.128129.
ISBN093570275X.
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8. Mizukami,KoichiSaito,FumioBaron,Michel.Studyongrindingofpharmaceuticalproductswithanaidofcomputersimulation
(http://pem.utbm.fr/materiaux_2002/file/pdf/AF01078.PDF)
9. Wescott,Bob(2013).TheEveryComputerPerformanceBook,Chapter7:ModelingComputerPerformance.CreateSpace.ISBN1482657759.
10. Baase,Sara.AGiftofFire:Social,Legal,andEthicalIssuesforComputingandtheInternet.3.UpperSaddleRiver:PrenticeHall,2007.Pages363364.ISBN0
136008488.

Furtherreading
http://www.cuideas.org/publications/AResourceAllocationFrameworkforExperimentBased
WikimediaCommonshas
ValidationofNumericalModels,JournalofMechanicsofAdvancedMaterialsandStructures(Taylor&
mediarelatedtoComputer
Francis).
simulation.
Young,JosephandFindley,Michael.2014."ComputationalModelingtoStudyConflictsandTerrorism."
HandbookofResearchMethodsinMilitaryStudies(http://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=ENDpAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT23&ots=TRFdlv1qZH&sig=dp4OqiNnE9QZSlWdW40Pbp6cHm4#v=onepage&q&f=falseR
outledge)editedbySoeters,JosephShields,PatriciaandRietjens,Sebastiaan.pp.249260.NewYork:Routledge,
R.FriggandS.Hartmann,ModelsinScience(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/modelsscience/).EntryintheStanfordEncyclopediaof
Philosophy.
A.K.Hartmann,PracticalGuidetoComputerSimulations(http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/6988.html),Singapore:WorldScientific,2009
S.Hartmann,TheWorldasaProcess:SimulationsintheNaturalandSocialSciences(http://philsciarchive.pitt.edu/archive/00002412/),in:R.
Hegselmannetal.(eds.),ModellingandSimulationintheSocialSciencesfromthePhilosophyofSciencePointofView,TheoryandDecision
Library.Dordrecht:Kluwer1996,77100.
E.Winsberg,ScienceintheAgeofComputerSimulation.Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2010.
P.Humphreys,ExtendingOurselves:ComputationalScience,Empiricism,andScientificMethod.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2004.
JamesJ.Nutaro,BuildingSoftwareforSimulation:TheoryandAlgorithms,withApplicationsinC++.Wiley,2010.

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