Advocating Feedback Control for Human-Earth System Applications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a feedback control framework for Human-Earth Systems that enhances robustness against model inaccuracies by using real-time measurements, aiming to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Contribution

It proposes a novel nested control loop framework that mitigates model errors in complex HESs, facilitating more practical and reliable environmental management.

Findings

Framework inherits robustness from feedback control strategies.

Nested control loops optimize and implement HES inputs.

Potential applications in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Abstract

This paper proposes a feedback control perspective for Human-Earth Systems (HESs) which essentially are complex systems that capture the interactions between humans and nature. Recent attention in HES research has been directed towards devising strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, aimed at achieving environmental and societal objectives. However, existing approaches heavily rely on HES models, which inherently suffer from inaccuracies due to the complexity of the system. Moreover, overly detailed models often prove impractical for optimization tasks. We propose a framework inheriting from feedback control strategies the robustness against model errors, because inaccuracies are mitigated using measurements retrieved from the field. The framework comprises two nested control loops. The outer loop computes the optimal inputs to the HES, which are then implemented by actuators controlled in the inner loop. Potential fields of applications are also identified.