TY - JOUR T1 - The site and condition specific nature of sensitivity analysis JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 493 LP - 497 VL - 50 IS - 5 AU - V. A. Ferreira AU - G. A. Weesies AU - D. C. Yoder AU - G. R. Foster AU - K. G. Renard Y1 - 1995/09/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/50/5/493.abstract N2 - Sensitivity analyses generally aim to quantify model result changes with respect to input changes. This study instead focuses on the site- and condition-specific nature of sensitivity, to demonstrate why users benefit by conducting their own sensitivity analyses as an essential step in model applications. This is demonstrated by employing the RUSLE model, which predicts average annual soil loss within a field. Sensitivity of computed soil loss to changes in selected parameters and variables is quantified under a range of sites and conditions. Input parameters representative of several common forms are varied about base values for the variety of scenarios. The scenarios include a corn/soybean rotation near Chicago, Illinois, the same scenario moved to the Atlanta, Georgia, area, and a corn/soybean/winter wheat rotation near Topeka, Kansas. Both conventional and no-till management schemes are tested at the three locations. Results show that model sensitivity may vary both with site and with management conditions being simulated. These results serve to caution users of complex computer models not to rely upon sensitivity results that were conducted under conditions other than those being simulated A serendipitous result is the demonstration of how the form of presenting results afects user perspective of the importance of those results. ER -