New Mexico School for the Arts (94)/Interim Report

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=94

Interim:

Problem Definition:
Currently, New Mexico is having severe problems with water consumption, seeing as how our state as basically a huge desert but we still love to golf. The natural solution to this issue is our dear friend, the Rio Grande; but are we using this river unwisely. Law states that we must provide half of the water in the Rio Grande to Texas and then we get the rest, but are we taking the amount we are allowed, and are we using that amount well? Our team at NMSA saw this as a great opportunity to simulate through computer programming the best way to distribute and consume this water, while still providing enough water for our Lone Star neighbors.

Problem Solution:
Our plan is to create a full map of New Mexico with the Rio Grande running through in the middle. From that we are importing data of known water levels at certain points along the river, to get an idea of its real size. We are beginning to account for the large New Mexican farms along the Rio Grande, along with code that simulates their usage of the water nearby. With all of these components working together, we will have a full-fledged model of the Rio Grande with realistic water levels changing according to farm usage in New Mexico. Then we can manipulate the multiple ways of distributing water to find our state’s optimal water usage.

Progress to Date:
To date, we have been focusing most of our efforts on two things: collecting data and importing GIS, both of which are successful. We currently have a Netlogo program which displays the Rio Grande running through New Mexico, but with no water levels backing it up. However, we do have maps of farms in New Mexico, which we are preparing to import. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhxaGvl3Ap-HdDAtVkxSa0NDdk95Ty02d0JxTEFMc2c We have collected elevation data and some farm usage data from around the state, which we hope to add soon. We have been working with JP Gonzales and Stephen Guerin. Expected Results: By the end of the school year, we hope to have our program accurately displaying Rio Grande flow data through the state, supplying farms, and giving Texas what it needs.

Team Members:
Noah Caulfield, Mohit Dubey, Samuel Thompson, Milada Guenther, Siena Bergt

Sponsoring Teacher:
Acacia McCombs

Introduction
Hello, My name is Joaquin Roibal and I am an engineering student at New Mexico Tech. This is my first year with the supercomputing challenge and I am excited to help you out with your project. I will be using the grading rubric that you will be judged using in April. The grading rubric attempts to quantify your results and give a value based upon how well you accomplished tasks such as mathematical modelling, code, etc.

Problem Statement
The problem statement is clearly defined: the consumption of water from the Rio Grande is beginning to exceed supply. Challenges associated with distribution including legal, scientific, and social ramifications are considered, and so this team wants to 'model' the Rio Grande and determine where water is being supplied, how much New Mexico can use and how much we need to conserve so that Texas receives the correct amount of water. My biggest question is what are you hoping that your model will accomplish? Most of your project sounds like collecting available resources (research).

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Mathematical Model
What mathematical equations and properties will your team need to take into consideration? You suggest that you will take into consideration evaporation, consumption, etc. In what way will you use NetLogo to model the complex system of a large river in the southwest.

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Computational Model
NetLogo is a very powerful and easy-to-use programming language, that can display results visually. What research are you hoping to obtain from your mathematical model and how will you use NetLogo to display these results?

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Results & Conclusions
For the presentation and final report, you will need to report and summarize your findings from your original research.

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Code
How much code has your team written and what are some of the challenges that you have faced so far?

How are you using what you have researched in your code and mathematical model?

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Display
What results are you hoping to learn from your model? Answering this question will help you decide how to best display your results and enable you to communicate your ideas with a large audience.

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Conclusion
Overall I think you have a very interesting problem and with a little bit of focus, the challenge should provide useful. I suggest further analyzing what you hope to gain from the model, what question you are answering, and how you are using NetLogo to mathematically model a complex system.

-Joaquin Roibal