d2ix: A Model Input-Data Management and Analysis Tool for MESSAGEix

Bottom-up integrated assessment models, like MESSAGEix, depend on the description of the capabilities and limitations of technological, economical and ecological parameters, and their development over long-time horizons. Even small models of a few nodes, technologies and model years require input-da...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergies (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 1483
Main Authors Zipperle, Thomas, Orthofer, Clara Luisa
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 18.04.2019
Subjects
Air pollution
Automation
Big Data
collaborative work
Communication
Computation
Constraint modelling
Data management
Data points
data pre- and post-processing
data-handling
Datasets
Debugging
Documentation
Economic development
Economic models
Emission standards
Energy
Energy modeling
Environmental engineering
Exports
Format
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Historical account
Inspection
integrated assessment modelling
Interfaces
MESSAGEix
open modelling and data
Parameters
Reproducibility
Software
Spreadsheets
System dynamics
Systems analysis
Technology
Temporal resolution
Water use
Germany
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Summary:Bottom-up integrated assessment models, like MESSAGEix, depend on the description of the capabilities and limitations of technological, economical and ecological parameters, and their development over long-time horizons. Even small models of a few nodes, technologies and model years require input-data sets involving several hundred thousand data points. Such data sets quickly become incomprehensible, which makes error detection, collaborative working and the interpretation of results challenging, especially for non-self-created models. In response to the resulting need for manageable, comprehensible, and traceable representation of input-data, we developed a Python-based spreadsheet interface (d2ix) that enables presentation and editing of model input-data in a concise form. By increasing accessibility and transparency of the model input-data, d2ix reduces barriers to entry for new modellers and simplifies collaborative working. This paper describes the methodology and introduces the open-source Python-package d2ix. The package is available under the Apache License, Version 2.0 on GitHub.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en12081483