2016年美国数学建模竞赛特等奖获奖论文

Our planet is getting thirstier and thirstier. Water scarcity has become an increasingly hard but urgent problem. To make contributions to solve the water problems, we proposed a metric model to identify the ability of each country to manage water scarcity, and offered solutions to a country considered water over-loaded. First we developed our metric, Total Scarcity Metric, and divided it into Physical Scarcity Metric (affected by environmental factors and population) and Economic Scarcity Metric (affected by social factors other than population) by the two causes of water scarcity. The detailed factors were selected to make a difference. We made some adjustments to an indicator we found widely-used in the literatures, and determine Physical Scarcity Metric based on it. For Economic Scarcity Metric, we built a factor model with its weight calculated by Grey Relational Analysis. To combine them, we introduced a parameter  revealing the relative emphasis between physical scarcity and economic scarcity of each country. Its value varies by countries, so it’s more proper to discuss it in the country level. Then we used data from 83 countries to verify our model, and found a similar water scarcity distribution compared to UN’s “World Scarcity Map”. By providing sensitivity analysis on  ,we indicated the importance of its selection for each country. Based on that result, we chose Pakistan for further analysis. First we discussed the possible factors accounting for its current water situation, including 2 environmental factors and 5 social factors. We made it clear how and what kind of scarcity they affect. To forecast the water situation in 2030 by our metric, we determined the predicted value of influential factors by Grey Forecasting Model and Regression Analysis with little error. We found Pakistan less susceptible to economic scarcity but more to physical scarcity at that time. Its total water scarcity will be alleviated. Next, we devised an intervention plan to improve the ability of Pakistan to deal with its water scarcity. The plan is made up of physical scarcity plan and economic scarcity plan. Considering the impact of each policy, we analyzed the overall strengths and weaknesses in a larger context. To see how our plan performs, we ran our model again under some hypothesized settings. Although Pakistan performed better with our plan and its economic scarcity can be alleviated, it will still face water scarcity, especially physical water scarcity. In conclusion, Pakistan still has a long way to go.