Applying Software Quality in Use Standards to Improve Scientific Software Selection
Keywords:
ISO 25010: Quality in Use Model, software quality, soil process models, CLM, DSSAT, HYDRUS-1DAbstract
Across scientific domains, researchers are challenged by the process of selecting suitable modeling software. These challenges are particularly numerous in the earth sciences, arising from selecting software based on a few of the myriad complex earth system processes and wide availability of modeling software. Earth scientists lack a framework to guide scientific software selection. In this paper, we operationalize a framework based on the Quality in Use Model, as codified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 25010 standard, to identify and create metrics to assess software that is used to simulate a subset of earth science processes known as soil processes. We applied this framework to assess software for three highly cited soil process models: Community Land Model (CLM), Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT), and HYDRUS-1D. DSSAT scored the highest for the Quality in Use Model metrics, followed by HYDRUS-1D and CLM. This study is the first of its kind to apply the ISO 25010 Product Quality Model to a class of modeling software in the earth sciences, and its application shows promise for streamlining software selection.
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