Uncertainty quantification may appear daunting for practitioners due to its inherent complexity but can be intriguing and rewarding for anyone with mathematical ambitions and genuine concern for modeling quality. Uncertainty quantification is what remains to be done when too much credibility has been invested in deterministic analyses and unwarranted assumptions. Model calibration describes the inverse operation targeting optimal prediction and refers to inference of best uncertain model estimates from experimental calibration data. The limited applicability of most state-of-the-art approaches to many of the large and complex calculations made today makes uncertainty quantification and model calibration major topics open for debate, with rapidly growing interest from both science and technology, addressing subtle questions such as credible predictions of climate heating.

This three-part book provides a comprehensive and systematic introduction to these challenging topics such as model calibration, parameter estimation, reliability assessment, and data collection design. Part 1 covers the classical inverse problem for parameter estimation in both deterministic and statistical frameworks, Part 2 is dedicated to system identification, hyperparameter estimation, and model dimension reduction, and Part 3 considers how to collect data and construct reliable models for prediction and decision-making. For the first time, topics such as multiscale inversion, stochastic field parameterization, level set method, machine learning, global sensitivity analysis, data assimilation, model uncertainty quantification, robust design, and goal-oriented modeling, are systematically described and summarized in a single book from the perspective of model inversion, and elucidated with numerical examples from environmental and water resources modeling. Readers of this book will not only learn basic concepts and methods for simple parameter estimation, but also get familiar with advanced methods for modeling complex systems. Algorithms for mathematical tools used in this book, such as numerical optimization, automatic differentiation, adaptive parameterization, hierarchical Bayesian, metamodeling, Markov chain Monte Carlo, are covered in details. This book can be used as a reference for graduate and upper level undergraduate students majoring in environmental engineering, hydrology, and geosciences. It also serves as an essential reference book for professionals such as petroleum engineers, mining engineers, chemists, mechanical engineers, biologists, biology and medical engineering, applied mathematicians, and others who perform mathematical modeling.

This open access book analyzes and seeks to consolidate the use of robust quantitative tools and qualitative methods for the design and assessment of energy and climate policies. In particular, it examines energy and climate policy performance and associated risks, as well as public acceptance and portfolio analysis in climate policy, and presents methods for evaluating the costs and benefits of flexible policy implementation as well as new framings for business and market actors. In turn, it discusses the development of alternative policy pathways and the identification of optimal switching points, drawing on concrete examples to do so. Lastly, it discusses climate change mitigation policies’ implications for the agricultural, food, building, transportation, service and manufacturing sectors.

The field of uncertainty quantification is evolving rapidly because of increasing emphasis on models that require quantified uncertainties for large-scale applications, novel algorithm development, and new computational architectures that facilitate implementation of these algorithms. Uncertainty Quantification: Theory, Implementation, and Applications provides readers with the basic concepts, theory, and algorithms necessary to quantify input and response uncertainties for simulation models arising in a broad range of disciplines. The book begins with a detailed discussion of applications where uncertainty quantification is critical for both scientific understanding and policy. It then covers concepts from probability and statistics, parameter selection techniques, frequentist and Bayesian model calibration, propagation of uncertainties, quantification of model discrepancy, surrogate model construction, and local and global sensitivity analysis. The author maintains a complementary web page where readers can find data used in the exercises and other supplementary material.

Uncertainty Quantification in Multiscale Materials Modeling provides a complete overview of uncertainty quantification (UQ) in computational materials science. It provides practical tools and methods along with examples of their application to problems in materials modeling. UQ methods are applied to various multiscale models ranging from the nanoscale to macroscale. This book presents a thorough synthesis of the state-of-the-art in UQ methods for materials modeling, including Bayesian inference, surrogate modeling, random fields, interval analysis, and sensitivity analysis, providing insight into the unique characteristics of models framed at each scale, as well as common issues in modeling across scales.

This open access book presents a ground-breaking approach to developing micro-foundations for demography and migration studies. It offers a unique and novel methodology for creating empirically grounded agent-based models of international migration – one of the most uncertain population processes and a top-priority policy area. The book discusses in detail the process of building a simulation model of migration, based on a population of intelligent, cognitive agents, their networks and institutions, all interacting with one another. The proposed model-based approach integrates behavioural and social theory with formal modelling, by embedding the interdisciplinary modelling process within a wider inductive framework based on the Bayesian statistical reasoning. Principles of uncertainty quantification are used to devise innovative computer-based simulations, and to learn about modelling the simulated individuals and the way they make decisions. The identified knowledge gaps are subsequently filled with information from dedicated laboratory experiments on cognitive aspects of human decision-making under uncertainty. In this way, the models are built iteratively, from the bottom up, filling an important epistemological gap in migration studies, and social sciences more broadly.

This third volume of eight from the IMAC - XXXII Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on: Linear Systems Substructure Modelling Adaptive Structures Experimental Techniques Analytical Methods Damage Detection Damping of Materials & Members Modal Parameter Identification Modal Testing Methods System Identification Active Control Modal Parameter Estimation Processing Modal Data

The topic of Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) has witnessed massive developments in response to the promise of achieving risk mitigation through scientific prediction. It has led to the integration of ideas from mathematics, statistics and engineering being used to lend credence to predictive assessments of risk but also to design actions (by engineers, scientists and investors) that are consistent with risk aversion. The objective of this Handbook is to facilitate the dissemination of the forefront of UQ ideas to their audiences. We recognize that these audiences are varied, with interests ranging from theory to application, and from research to development and even execution.

This book focuses on computational methods for large-scale statistical inverse problems and provides an introduction to statistical Bayesian and frequentist methodologies. Recent research advances for approximation methods are discussed, along with Kalman filtering methods and optimization-based approaches to solving inverse problems. The aim is to cross-fertilize the perspectives of researchers in the areas of data assimilation, statistics, large-scale optimization, applied and computational mathematics, high performance computing, and cutting-edge applications. The solution to large-scale inverse problems critically depends on methods to reduce computational cost. Recent research approaches tackle this challenge in a variety of different ways. Many of the computational frameworks highlighted in this book build upon state-of-the-art methods for simulation of the forward problem, such as, fast Partial Differential Equation (PDE) solvers, reduced-order models and emulators of the forward problem, stochastic spectral approximations, and ensemble-based approximations, as well as exploiting the machinery for large-scale deterministic optimization through adjoint and other sensitivity analysis methods. Key Features: Brings together the perspectives of researchers in areas of inverse problems and data assimilation. Assesses the current state-of-the-art and identify needs and opportunities for future research. Focuses on the computational methods used to analyze and simulate inverse problems. Written by leading experts of inverse problems and uncertainty quantification. Graduate students and researchers working in statistics, mathematics and engineering will benefit from this book.