Computer modeling greatly improves how engineers, meteorologists, and scientists plan for the future or respond in a crisis. Specifically, computer modeling utilizes a variables plugged into a computer algorithm that can functionally simulate what will happen with certain conditions. Through computer modeling, technology saves all kinds of professionals the time and effort of going through with an action until they know more clearly how it may play out. If you’d like to learn more about how computer modeling benefits the world, continue reading.
Infrastructure Design
First, modeling affects how infrastructure takes shape. Architects must consider the overall integrity of the structures they design—bridges, office buildings, schools, and more—and do so by accounting for many complex, interacting forces on the structure. It’s difficult to know how gravity will act in certain areas and whether your foundation will sustain the weight of your materials. To simulate all of this without laying a brick, architects use computer modeling that’s equipped to include these forces. You can even use it to test how your structure will react to adverse conditions, such as a storm, which illustrates its flexibility. To give an example of one type of modeling, finite element analysis (FEA) helps those in the oil and gas industry determine how fluids will act on a system, as well as other applications in other fields.
Weather Prediction
Computer modeling depends on a significant data set to give reliable feedback. That’s a particular strength of weather-predictive modeling, which has years of data to feed into its predictive algorithm to track future weather patterns. The global forecast model (GFS) and others are important for day-to-day forecasting, but become integral when predicting the path of a hurricane or determining the extent of other extreme storms. If the computer model used correctly anticipates the storm’s path and danger, it saves lives.
Tracking and Projecting Infectious Diseases
Finally, most important now during this COVID-19 pandemic, computer modeling benefits the world by predictively determining where and how infectious diseases will spread. The challenge with computer modeling for these purposes is that, because computer modeling must mimic real life closely, it needs many variables inputted correctly to adequately guide action. Because much about the coronavirus is either recently known or still unknown, it’s difficult to incorporate these variables together. It’s likely more appropriate to model the virus’s transmission via more limited models when information is lacking.