Systems Theory

1. Systems Theory Tiago Garcia de Senna Carneiro Pedro Ribeiro de Andrade Gilberto Câmara Münster, 2013

2. Geoinformatics enables crucial links between nature and society Nature: Physical equations Describe processes Society: Decisions on how to Use Earth´s resources

3. How to model Natural-Society systems? • Connect expertise from different fields • Make the different conceptions explicit If (... ? ) then ... Desforestation?

4. “A hypothesis or theory [model] is clear, decisive, and positive, but it is believed by no one but the man who created it. Experimental findings [observations], on the other hand, are messy, inexact things, which are believed by everyone except the man who did that work” Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), American astronomer

5. Models “[The] advantage of a mathematical statement is that it is so definite that it might be definitely wrong…..Some verbal statements have not this merit; they are so vague that they could hardly be wrong, and are correspondingly useless.” Lewis Fry Richardson (1881-1953) – first to apply mathematical methods to numerical weather prediction

6. How reality is conceived • Any measurable part of reality can be modelled as a system • Systems are represented as stocks and flows • Stocks represent storages of energy, matter, or information • Flows connect and transport stocks • Real systems are opened only theoretical ones are closed Environment System 2 System 1 System 3 System 4

7. What is a System? • Definition: A system is a group of components with different functions, which interact with each other • Example: The climate system includes the atmosphere, oceans, polar caps, clouds, vegetation…and lots of other things

8. How do we study systems? • Identify the components • Determine the nature of the • interactions between components

11. Earth as a system

12. Systems Theory • Provides a unified classification for scientific knowledge. • Enunciated by biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanffy: • 1920s: earliest developments • 1937: Charles Morris Philosophy Seminar, University of Chicago • 1950: “An Outline of General Systems Theory”, Journal for the Philosophy of Science • Scientists that introduced Systems Theory in their fields: • Parsons, sociologist (1951) • J.G Miller, psychiatrist & psychologist (1955) • Boulding, economist (1956) • Rapoport, mathematician (1956) • Ashby, bacteriologist (1958)

13. A system • Can you identify parts? and • Do the parts affect each other? and • Do the parts together produce an effect that is different from the effect of each part on its own? and perhaps • Does the effect, the behavior over time, persist in a variety of circumstances? Source: (Meadows, 2008)

14. slide Systems Building Blocks • Stocks • Flows • Information Links • Decision Points • Converters • Auxiliary Variables

15. slide Stocks • “Things” that accumulate in a system • Physical or non-physical things • Value is a quantity or level • Persistent (remain even if all flows stop) • Conservation (stock units enter from environment and return to environment)

16. slide Flows • Movement of “things” in and out of stocks • Not persistent (can be stopped and started) • Value is a rate of change (will always have a time dimension) • Flow unit = stock unit / time • The unit of measurement for a flow will always be the unit of measurement of a stockdivided byan element of time

17. slide Stock and Flow Diagram • Stocks in boxes • Flows as straight double arrows • Information Links as thin curved arrows • Decision Points as closed in X

18. Control Material Flaw to Stock Control Material Flaw from Stock Stock Send information from the Stock Add New information System Dynamics Modelling

19. Shrimp farming

20. Simple model for shrimp farm

21. Results? Figure 7

22. Systems can grow in different ways... forever... explode... stabilize...

23. Run code #1 – Linear Growth

24. Feedbacks • Feedback is how the system affect itself • Essential to systems be able to reach their goal System Inflow Outflow Feedback

25. Population growth Mortality Population Births Deaths Fertility

26. Positive Coupling Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse effect • An increase in atmospheric CO2 causes • a corresponding increase in the greenhouse • effect, and thus in Earth’s surface temperature • Conversely, a decrease in atmospheric CO2 • causes a decrease in the greenhouse effect

27. Negative Coupling Earth’s albedo (reflectivity) Earth’s surface temperature • An increase in Earth’s albedo causes a • corresponding decrease in the Earth’s surface • temperature by reflecting more sunlight back to • space • Or, a decrease in albedo causes an increase in • surface temperature

28. The interesting thing to do is to put couplings together in feedback loops…

29. Negative Feedback Loops: Electric Blankets person A’s body temperature person A’s blanket temperature person B’s blanket temperature person B’s body temperature

30. A Positive Feedback Loop: Mixed-up Electric Blankets person A’s blanket temperature person A’s body temperature person B’s blanket temperature person B’s body temperature

31. A Positive Feedback Loop: Mixed-up Electric Blankets Any perturbation will cause both people to adjust their blanket controls, but with undesired consequences. Ultimately, one person will freeze (become infinitely cold) and the other person to swelter (become infinitely hot).

32. Equilibrium State: Conditions under which the system will remain indefinitely --If left unperturbed

33. Reinforcing feedbacks • Also named: positive, self-reinforcing, discrepancy-enhancing, degenerative • Self-enhancing behavior that leads to growth or even collapses

34. Run code #2 – Exponential Growth

35. Balancing feedback • Also named: negative, self-correcting, discrepancy-reducing, regenerative • Equilibrating or goal-seeking structures

36. Homeostasis • It is a tendency that all systems have to maintain their equilibrium state through negative feedbacks Initial condition = 3.2 Initial condition = 8

37. Run code #3 – Homeostasis

38. Equilibrium state (some times steady-state) • Equilibrium means a state of balance. • There are no net flows of matter or of energy • Input flow == Output flow System Inflow Outflow

39. Equilibrium state (some times steady-state) • Equilibrium means a state of balance. • There are no net flows of matter or of energy • Input flow == Output flow System Inflow Outflow

40. An Unstable Equilibrium State low resilience

41. An Unstable Equilibrium State Perturbation

42. When pushed by a perturbation, an unstable equilibrium state shifts to a new, stable state.

43. A Stable Equilibrium State higher resilience

44. A Stable Equilibrium State Perturbation

45. When pushed by a perturbation, a stable equilibrium state, returns to (or near) the original state.

46. Run code #4 – Logistic Growth

47. Run codes #5, #6 – Logistic Growth

48. Discrete & Continuous Systems • Discrete systems jump from one state to other without intermadiate valuas, like the traffic light. • Continuous system change from a state to other going through all intermadiate states, like the speed of a car. • Depending on your point of view you can model a system as discrete or continuos, like a lift. ht+1 =ht ± 1 = ± 0.1 h

49. There are different types of equlibrium • Discrete systems: • Fixed point - System converges to a one-dimension fixed value. • N-dimensional attractors – System converges to attractors composed by several N fixed points • Deterministic CAOS – System is locked in a high dimensional attractor composed theorically by a infinite number of fixed points and will never repeat itself (this is the caos).

50. Run codes #7 – Discrete Logistic Growth • As the system is discrete we should use a difference equation istead of a differential equation: