This page brings together research outputs from the Water&Environment Engineering group at the University of Bristol on modelling and optimisation of reservoirs systems. For more information, contact: Francesca Pianosi.
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_ iRONs: an open-source toolbox for reservoir operation optimisation in Python
including a range of interactive Jupyter notebooks to learn about reservoir simulation and optimisation under uncertainty. Access the toolbox:
https://ironstoolbox.github.io
Test the Jupyter Notebooks from your browser (no installation of Python needed):
myBinder link
Learn more about the architecture and aims of iRONS, and how we designed and evaluated interactive Jupyter Notebooks for model documentation and training:
Peñuela, A., Hutton, C., and Pianosi, F. (2021): An open-source package with interactive Jupyter Notebooks to enhance the accessibility of reservoir operations simulation and optimisation, Environmental Modelling & Software. doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105188
_ how useful are seasonal forecasts to improve reservoir operations?
Weather forecasting systems are becoming increasingly skillful over longer lead times, opening up the potential for use across a range of sectors, including water resource management. In this simulation/optimisation study we investigate how seasonal forecast products could be used to improve reservoir operations in a pumped-storage system in the UK.
A summary of our key findings is given here.
The full paper is:
Peñuela, A., Hutton, C., and Pianosi, F. (2020): Assessing the value of seasonal hydrological forecasts for improving water resource management: insights from a pilot application in the UK, Hydrology Earth System Sciences. doi:10.5194/hess-24-6059-2020
_ how much is reservoir operation optimisation used in practice?
Pianosi, F., Dobson, B., Wagener, T. (2020) Use of Reservoir Operation Optimization Methods in Practice: Insights from a Survey of Water Resource Managers. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001301
_ review of reservoir operation optimisation methods
Dobson, B., Wagener, T., Pianosi, F. (2019) An argument-driven classification and comparison of reservoir operation optimization methods. Advances in Water Resources. doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.04.012
_ a collection of Matlab functions for reservoir simulation and optimisation
Access the repository:
github.com/FrancescaPianosi/ResSimOpt-Matlab
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Acknowledgement
Co-funded by 
[EP/R007330/1]