The Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Area that has been assessed as having a very poor outlook and needing urgent intervention. The eReefs hydrodynamic-biogeochemical models are used to complement monitoring, facilitate data interpretation and support policy decisions. Management and policy for the Great Barrier Reef are politically contentious, so a high standard of model evaluation is required. We report the application of a recently-developed four-level “CSPS” (Concept/State/Process/System) model evaluation framework to the eReefs biogeochemical model. The framework considers: Level 0, conceptual evaluation; Level 1, simulated state variables; Level 2, process rates; and Level 3, system-level patterns and emergent properties. This paper is the first complete application of this model assessment framework. It highlights both strengths and weaknesses of the eReefs biogeochemical model that might not have been apparent from a traditional model evaluation. The framework can be applied to evaluation of any complex, process-based numerical model.

大堡礁是被联合国教科文组织列为世界遗产的地区，据估计前景很差，需要紧急干预。eReefs水动力-生物地球化学模型用于补充监测，促进数据解释和支持政策决策。大堡礁的管理和政策在政治上存在争议，因此需要高标准的模型评估。我们报告了最近开发的四级“ CSPS”（概念/状态/过程/系统）模型评估框架在eReefs生物地球化学模型中的应用。框架考虑：0级，概念评估；1级，模拟状态变量；2级，处理速度；和3级，系统级模式和紧急属性。本文是该模型评估框架的第一个完整应用。它强调了eReefs生物地球化学模型的优点和缺点，而传统的模型评价可能没有发现这些优点和缺点。该框架可用于评估任何复杂的，基于过程的数值模型。