Cybernetics in Water Resources Management

Title: Cybernetics in Water Resources Management
Author: Branislav Djordjevic
Specifications: Hard Cover, 644 pp
ISBN -13: 978-1-887201-67-4
ISBN - 10: 1-887201-67-X

Price: US $94
Cat No: CWRM

(Previously Published:
ISBN-13: 978-0-918334-82-4
ISBN-10: 0-918334-82-9)

Explains the complexity of water management and the importance of making right decisions at the right time

From the TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION

It is well known that water problems attract public attention only when something goes wrong: water issues hit the headlines when floods devastate fields and houses, when taps are dry, or fish die in dirty rivers... The main goal of this book is to explain the complexity of water management and the importance of making right decisions at the right time. It also presents foundations of water resources systems theory, e.g.: general systems theory, operation research, information theory, reliability theory, control theory, etc., generalizing analytical methods, algorithms and procedures which are used in planning complex water resources systems (WRS). Different issues are highlighted such as: the capability of theory of solving difficult water resources development issues and to synthesize water related technical disciplines, bringing to light the complexity of multipurpose water use and conservation.

The subject is presented in twenty chapters divided into three parts. Chapters 1 to 9 are under Part I entitled Water Resources Systems and Their Cybernetics Description. Acute problems of WRS and their development trends are presented and addressed. Chapters 2 to 9 deal with the mathematical formulation of the tasks of water resources management. The scope of functional, morphological and informational description of WRS is presented, management tasks specified and problems of defining objectives, criteria and constraints in formulation of management tasks are described.

The second part, entitled Modeling and Optimization of WRS and Tasks of Management and Decision Making expands on the philosophy of mathematical modeling of WRS and describes the application of simulation and optimization models to systems analysis and synthesis, considering also the applicability of external estimation models. Fundamental principles are illustrated by typical cases of planning tasks. Chapter 14 deals with decision making in water resources planning, a subject where many misunderstandings persist. Chapter 15 discussed some important processes such as development trends from physical to cybernetic WRS, effectiveness and inter-dependence of systems, the triad of equilibrium, stability and optimality. Chapter 16 systematizes certain water management categories which are important for planning of WRS. Particular attention is given to water master plans, reflecting the writer's experience in elaborating such documents. Chapter 17 deals with reliability in WRS planning. This aspect gains importance as WRS get increasingly ramified, with large number of structures and plants, linked into complex entities. Information systems for water resources management are discussed in Chapter 18.

Part III of the book, under the title Water Resources Systems and Their Ecological and Sociological Environment treats these aspects of planning WRS (Chapters 19 and 20). The writer believes that part of the project which consider the integration of WRS into its environment are equally important as those dealing with hydraulics or structural mechanics, and this belief is fully reflected in this chapter.

The intention of the author is to provide the reader with a thesaurus which would help the reader in further studies in the fields of WRS theory and adjacent branches of technical cybernetics. This monograph will be of interest to a wide readership: water resources professionals of all specialties, students, and to all those associated with WRS management decisions (regional planners, investors, members of public bodies, ecologists, economists, sociologists studying water management infrastructure, etc.). ISBN - 0-918334-82-9. Pub. WRP.

TABLE OF CONTENTS [top]

PART I: WATER RESOURCES SYSTEMS (WRS) AND THEIR CYBERNETIC DESCRIPTION

Water Resources and General Trends in Development of WRS
Science of Planning WRS as a Branch of Cybernetics
Formalization of WRS and Planning Objectives
WRS: Functional Description
Definitions of Water Resources Objectives, Criteria and Constraints
Definition and Systematization of WRS, with Management Tasks
Managing Complex WRS
Morphological Description of WRS
System Entropy and its Informational Description

PART II: MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF WRS AND TASKS OF MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING

Mathematical Modeling for Management of WRS
Simulation Models for System Control
WRS Optimization: Techniques and Applications
Application of Estimators in Solving of WRS Control Problems
Decision Making in Water Resources Planning and Management
Evolution of WRS and Associated Phenomena
Water Management Concepts Essential for System Planning
Reliability Aspects and WRS Planning
Information Systems within WRS

PART III: WRS AND THEIR ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

WRS and Environment
Sociological Approach to Planning of WRS

REFERENCES -- AUTHOR INDEX -- SUBJECT INDEX -- NOTATION