The Entropy Theory as a Decision Making Tool in Environmental and Water Resources

Since the development of the entropy theory by Shannon in the late 1940s and of the principle of maximum entropy (POME) by Jaynes in the late 1950s, there has been a proliferation of applications of entropy in a wide spectrum of areas, including environmental and water resources. The real impetus to entropy-based modelling in environmental and water resources was however provided in the early 1970s, and a great variety of entropy-based applications have since been reported and new applications continue to unfold. Most of these applications have, however, been in the realm of modelling and a relatively few applications have been reported on decision making. This note revisits the entropy theory and emphasizes its usefulness in the realm of decision making in environmental and water resources, and is concluded with comments on its implications in developing countries.