Models are the basis and the heart of much of PIK’s scientific output and reputation. PIK’s model portfolio represents the instruments necessary to understand the physical limits of the Earth system and to explore management options for a sustainable and equitable development corresponding to PIK’s mission in investigating planetary boundaries and management of global commons.
Corresponding to this scientific mission, the models at PIK serve three primary purposes:
- Models improving our understanding of natural and socio-economic systems
- Models providing future scenarios and pathways
- Models informing decisions.
These purposes are not mutually exclusive, and models may allow the exploration of more than one dimension.
The portfolio is complemented by smaller exploratory modelling efforts (often at lower computational costs). They include non-linear methods that account for dynamically evolving elements in complex systems and aim at employing artificial intelligence to gain new insights into data related to climate change.
