Classification of Quality Attributes For Software Systems in the Domain of Integrated Environmental Modelling

Abstract: Quality Attributes (QA) which are also known as non-functional requirements, are characteristics of a software system that define its quality. Performance, availability, usability are typical examples of QAs. Performance for example defines how efficiently a system works with the given resources. QAs‘ significant impact on the overall quality of a system is widely recognized. They play a critical role in the success of the system, therefore it is imperative to identify the right QAs and validate them to realize a good system. The importance further increases for those software systems which are involved in developing integrated environmental models, mainly because of their complex nature. Such complexity leaves models less trustable by the users. This trust can be retained by developing high quality software systems, which requires a profound understanding about the QAs of the system. We find that the role of QAs for such systems is not well addressed. This paper attempts to understand that role. We identify a list of QAs which are specific to the integrated environmental modelling. We further discuss how QAs are linked with the environmental models and how they affect the quality of those models. For these purposes, we use hydrological models as a case study