Several different kinds of tools are used in Finnish Environmnet institute (Syke) to assess and forecast the state of the environment. In a large perspective they can be called mathematical models. Models are mostly needed to support the water management and adaptation to the climate change.
The models used in Syke have been designed especially for calculating water resources and nutrient cycling. They are applied to catchment areas, watersheds and sea areas.
Models are increasingly used within the new themes, such as cycling of harmful substances and socio-economic analysis coupled with forecasting the status of watersheds.
Most of the models have been developed in the Syke's former Freshwater and Marine Research Centers, but also models developed by Syke’s partners are used.
Some of the models are suitable for expert use only, but in the future Syke will develop also models to be used by everyone interested. For example, the LLR model (LakeLoadResponse) associated with water quality is publicly available in the internet.
The variety of models is large from simple mass balance models and analytical solutions for differential equations to numerical solutions for multi-dimensional equations of motion and statistic approaches.