Global Sensitivity Analysis

Definition

Global sensitivity analysis is the process of apportioning the uncertainty in outputs to the uncertainty in each input factor over their entire range of interest. A sensitivity analysis is considered to be global when all the input factors are varied simultaneously and the sensitivity is evaluated over the entire range of each input factor.

Main Text

In many complex and nonlinear spatial phenomenon or processes, input factors usually interact with each other and therefore it is inappropriate to evaluate the impact of one input factor on the model output with other factors being constant. Global sensitivity analysis quantifies the importance of model inputs and their interactions with respect to model output. It provides an overall view on the influence of inputs on outputs as opposed to a local view of partial derivatives as in local sensitivity analysis. One of the most challenging issues for global sensitivity analysis is the intensive computational demand for assessing...