ABSTRACT
In a consulting environment, applications at the engineering-research interface occasionally require to develop model prototypes. Unfortunately limitations in programming knowledge often mean that these extensions are not easily reusable. This paper evaluates the potential of a Matlab framework to considerably simplify the development of new prototype models while keeping some of the characteristics that make a model attractive. Some of the basic concepts underlying Environmental Modelling Frameworks (EMFs) are used to define an architecture allowing engineers to easily couple and reuse model components. The benefits of such an architecture are shown with an implementation of a hydrological model, and the computation speed and limitations of the proposed approach are evaluated with an implementation of the non-linear shallow water equations.
