An open source framework for many-objective robust decision making

This study introduces a new open source software framework to support bottom-up environmental systems planning under deep uncertainty with a focus on many-objective robust decision making (MORDM), called OpenMORDM. OpenMORDM contains two complementary components: (1) a software application programming interface (API) for connecting planning models to computational exploration tools for many-objective optimization and sensitivity-based discovery of critical deeply uncertain factors; and (2) a web-based visualization toolkit for exploring high-dimensional datasets to better understand system trade-offs, vulnerabilities, and dependencies. We demonstrate the OpenMORDM framework on a challenging environmental management test case termed the “lake problem”. The lake problem has been used extensively in the prior environmental decision science literature and, in this study, captures the challenges posed by conflicting economic and environmental objectives, a water quality “tipping point” beyond which the lake may become irreversibly polluted, and multiple deeply uncertain factors that may undermine the robustness of pollution management policies. The OpenMORDM software framework enables decision makers to identify policy-relevant scenarios, quantify the trade-offs between alternative strategies in different scenarios, flexibly explore alternative definitions of robustness, and identify key system factors that should be monitored as triggers for future actions or additional planning. The webbased OpenMORDM visualization toolkit allows decision makers to easily share and visualize their datasets, with the option for analysts to extend the framework with customized scripts in the R programming language. OpenMORDM provides a platform for constructive decision support, allowing analysts and decision makers to interactively discover promising alternatives and potential vulnerabilities while balancing conflicting objectives. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Software availability Name of Software: OpenMORDM Description: OpenMORDM is an open-source R library for multiobjective robust decision making (MORDM). It includes support for loading datasets from a number of sources including CSV, XLS, XLSX, databases, and R matrices and data frames; visualizing the data sets using various 2D and 3D plots; ka), [email protected] @psu.edu (K. Keller). r Ltd. This is an open access article performing scenario discovery and trade-off analysis; and computing uncertainty/robustness metrics. OpenMORDM also includes a web-based data exploration and visualization toolkit. Developer: D. Hadka ([email protected]) with contributions by P. Reed and K. Keller. Funding Source: Development was partially supported by the National Science Foundation through the Network for Sustainable Climate Risk Management (SCRiM) under NSF cooperative agreement GEO-1240507 as well as the Penn State Center for Climate Risk Management. Source Language: R Supported Systems: Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac License: GNU General Public License, Version 3 under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). D. Hadka et al. / Environmental Modelling & Software 74 (2015) 114e129 115 Availability: http://github.com/dhadka/OpenMORDM