GoldSim is dynamic,

probabilistic Probability is a branch of mathematics and statistics concerning events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an e ...

simulation software Simulation software is based on the process of modeling a real phenomenon with a set of mathematical formulas. It is, essentially, a program that allows the user to observe an operation through simulation without actually performing that operation ...

developed by GoldSim Technology Group. This general-purpose simulator is a hybrid of several simulation approaches, combining an extension of

system dynamics System dynamics (SD) is an approach to understanding the nonlinear behaviour of complex systems over time using stocks, flows, internal feedback loops, table functions and time delays. Overview System dynamics is a methodology and mathematical ...

with some aspects of

discrete event simulation A discrete-event simulation (DES) models the operation of a system as a (discrete) sequence of events in time. Each event occurs at a particular instant in time and marks a change of state in the system. Between consecutive events, no change in th ...

, and embedding the dynamic simulation engine within a

Monte Carlo simulation Monte Carlo methods, or Monte Carlo experiments, are a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The underlying concept is to use randomness to solve problems that might be det ...

framework. While it is a general-purpose simulator, GoldSim has been most extensively used for environmental and engineering

risk analysis In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

, with applications in the areas of

water resource Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

management , Lloyd Townley, Huanhuan Jiang and Jinquan Tang (2019), WRRM1 and WRRM2: Implementations in GoldSim of Unit Process Models and IWA Benchmark Models (BSM1 and BSM2) for Nutrient Removal, ''Innovation Conference on Sustainable Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery'', Shanghai, China. Erfan Goharian and Steven J. Burian (2014)
Integrated Urban Water Resources Modeling In A Semi-Arid Mountainous Region Using A Cyberinfrastructure Framework
, ''Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, HIC 2014'', New York, New York. James Andrew Griffiths, Fangfang Zhu, Faith Ka Shun Chan and David Laurence Higgitt (2019), Modelling the impact of sea-level rise on urban flood probability in SE China, ''Geoscience Frontiers'', March 2019. Michel Raymond (2014)
Wivenhoe Somerset Dam Optimisation Study – Simulating Dam Operations for Numerous Floods
''Proceedings of Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) Annual Conference 2014'', Canberra, Australia. James C. Schlaman and Danny Johnson (20147, Eliminating the Silo Effect Integrated Water, Wastewater, Watershed Model Helps the Atlanta Region Plan a More Holistic Future, ''Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation'', January 2017.

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

, Brent C. Johnson, Pamela Rohal, and Ted Eary (2018), Coupling PHREEQC with GoldSim for a More Dynamic Water Modeling Experience, ''11th ICARD , IMWA , WISA MWD 2018 Conference – Risk to Opportunity'', January 2018 Pretoria, South Africa. Nick Martin and Michael Gabora (2018), Modelling Complex Mine Water Closure Challenges using a Coupled FEFLOW-GoldSim Model, ''11th ICARD , IMWA , WISA MWD 2018 Conference – Risk to Opportunity'', January 2018 Pretoria, South Africa. Lisa Wade (2014)
A Probabilistic Water Balance
Dissertation for Montana Tech of The University of Montana, Copyright ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing 2014.

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

management , David Ewing Duncan (2003)
Do or Die at Yucca Mountain
''Wired Magazine'', Issue 11.04, April 2003. K.P. Lee, R. Andrews, N. Hasan, R. Senger, M. Kozak, A. K. Wahi, and W. Zhou (2018), Integration of Models for the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment, ''Proceedings of the 2018 Waste Management Symposium,'' March 2018''.'' Jongtae Jeong, Youn-Myoung Lee, Jung-Woo Kim, Dong-Keun Cho, Nak Yul Ko, and Min Hoon Baik (2016), Progress of the Long-Term Safety Assessment of a Reference Disposal System for High Level Wastes in Korea, ''Progress in Nuclear Energy'', July 2016. B. Haverkamp, J. Krone, and I. Shybetskyi (2013), Safety Assessment for a Surface Repository in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, ''Proceedings of the 2013 Waste Management Symposium,'' February 2013. geological

carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. It plays a crucial role in Climate change mitigation, limiting climate change by reducing the amount of Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, carbon dioxide in the atmosphe ...

, Philip H. Stauffer, Hari S. Viswanathan, Rajesh J. Pawar and George D. Guthrie (2009)
A System Model for Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide
''Environ. Sci. Technol.'', 2009, 43 (3), pp 565–570.

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

mission risk analysis Donovan L. Mathias, Susie Go, and Christopher J. Mattenberger (2014), Engineering Risk Assessment of Space Thruster Challenge Problem, ''Proceedings, Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management PSAM 12, Honolulu, HI,'' June 2014. Susie Go, Donovan L. Mathias, Scott Lawrence, Ken Gee and Christopher J. Mattenberger (2014), An Integrated Reliability and Physics-based Risk Modeling Approach for Assessing Human Spaceflight Systems, ''Proceedings, Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management PSAM 12, Honolulu, HI,'' June 2014. and energy.Steven P. Miller, Jennifer E. Granata and Joshua S. Stein (2012),
The Comparison of Three Photovoltaic System Designs Using the Photovoltaic Reliability and Performance Model (PV-RPM)
, Sandia Report SAND2012-10342, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

History

In 1990, Golder Associates, an international engineering consulting firm, was asked by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear w ...

(DOE) to develop probabilistic simulation software that could be used to help with decision support and management within the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. The results of this effort were two

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

-based programs (RIP and STRIP), which were used to support radioactive waste management projects within the DOE. In 1996, in an effort funded by Golder Associates, the US DOE, the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (currently the

Japan Atomic Energy Agency The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a Japanese atomic energy company. While it inherited the activities of both Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, JNC and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of J ...

) and the Spanish National Radioactive Waste Company (ENRESA), the capabilities of RIP and STRIP were incorporated into a general purpose

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

-based simulator called GoldSim. Subsequent funding was also provided by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. Initially only offered to the original funding organizations, GoldSim was released to the public in 2002. In 2004, GoldSim Technology Group LLC was spun off from Golder Associates and is now a wholly independent company. Notable applications include providing the simulation framework for: 1) the Yucca Mountain Repository Performance Assessment model developed by

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force B ...

; 2) a comprehensive system-level computational model for performance assessment of geological sequestration of CO₂ developed by

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

; 3) a flood operations model to help better understand and fine tune operations of a large dam used for water supply and flood control in Queensland, Australia; and 4) models for simulating risks associated with future crewed space missions by

NASA Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...

Modeling Environment

GoldSim provides a visual and hierarchical modeling environment, which allows users to construct models by adding “elements” (model objects) that represent data, equations, processes or events, and linking them together into graphical representations that resemble

influence diagrams An influence diagram (ID) (also called a relevance diagram, decision diagram or a decision network) is a compact graphical and mathematical representation of a decision situation. It is a generalization of a Bayesian network, in which not only p ...

. Influence arrows are automatically drawn as elements are referenced by other elements. Complex systems can be translated into hierarchical GoldSim models by creating layer of “containers” (or sub-models). Visual representations and hierarchical structures help users to build very large, complex models that can still be explained to interested stakeholders (e.g., government regulators, elected officials, and the public). Though it is primarily a continuous simulator, GoldSim has a number of features typically associated with discrete simulators. By combining these two simulation methods, systems that are best represented using both continuous and discrete dynamics can often be more accurately simulated. Examples include tracking the quantity of water in a reservoir that is subject to both continuous inflows and outflows, as well as sudden storm events; and tracking the quantity of fuel in a space vehicle as it is subjected to random perturbations (e.g., component failures, extreme environmental conditions). Because the software was originally developed for complex environmental applications, in which many inputs are uncertain and/or

stochastic Stochastic (; ) is the property of being well-described by a random probability distribution. ''Stochasticity'' and ''randomness'' are technically distinct concepts: the former refers to a modeling approach, while the latter describes phenomena; i ...

, in addition to being a dynamic simulator, GoldSim is a

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

simulator, such that inputs can be defined as distributions and the entire system simulated a large number of times to provide probabilistic outputs.Probabilistic Simulation
''GoldSim website''. As such, the software incorporates a number of computational features to facilitate probabilistic simulation of complex systems, including tools for generating and correlating stochastic

time series In mathematics, a time series is a series of data points indexed (or listed or graphed) in time order. Most commonly, a time series is a sequence taken at successive equally spaced points in time. Thus it is a sequence of discrete-time data. ...

, advanced sampling capabilities (including

latin hypercube sampling Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) is a statistical method for generating a near-random sample of parameter values from a multidimensional distribution. The sampling method is often used to construct computer experiments or for Monte Carlo integratio ...

, nested Monte Carlo analysis, and

importance sampling Importance sampling is a Monte Carlo method for evaluating properties of a particular distribution, while only having samples generated from a different distribution than the distribution of interest. Its introduction in statistics is generally at ...

), and support for

distributed processing Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems, defined as computer systems whose inter-communicating components are located on different networked computers. The components of a distributed system commun ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsim Simulation software Risk management software Scientific simulation software Mathematical software Environmental science software Numerical software Simulation programming languages Probabilistic software Science software for Windows

History

Modeling Environment

See also

References

External links