I was just wondering what units the water pump model is measuring? What would make sense in terms of the amount of water in an aquifer, amount of rainfall and amount pumped by a well?
Hi, and thanks for the question. Technically, the model is measuring each water agent (turtle) as it is pumped up by a well (or by multiple wells). The model starts with 1000 agents, which is a number we selected because it works well with the model. You can decide what each agent should represent in terms of actual water - a gallon, a thousand gallons, an acre-foot, or whatever - depending on how you are using the model. The water can evaporate in some models but the evaporation itself isn't being measured by the monitors, so it makes more sense to me to think of it as pumped water, rather than rainfall. But the beauty of a computer model is that you can decide what the abstract idea (1000 turtles) should represent in your application of the model. I hope this helps!
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Hi, and thanks for the question. Technically, the model is measuring each water agent (turtle) as it is pumped up by a well (or by multiple wells). The model starts with 1000 agents, which is a number we selected because it works well with the model. You can decide what each agent should represent in terms of actual water - a gallon, a thousand gallons, an acre-foot, or whatever - depending on how you are using the model. The water can evaporate in some models but the evaporation itself isn't being measured by the monitors, so it makes more sense to me to think of it as pumped water, rather than rainfall. But the beauty of a computer model is that you can decide what the abstract idea (1000 turtles) should represent in your application of the model. I hope this helps!