Data-driven modelling: some past experiences and new approaches

Abstract

Physically based (process) models based on mathematical descriptions of water motion are widely used in river basin management. During the last decade the so-called data-driven models are becoming more and more common. These models rely upon the methods of computational intelligence and machine learning, and thus assume the presence of a considerable amount of data describing the modelled system's physics (i.e. hydraulic and/or hydrologic phenomena). This paper is a preface to the special issue on Data Driven Modelling and Evolutionary Optimization for River Basin Management, and presents a brief overview of the most popular techniques and some of the experiences of the authors in data-driven modelling relevant to river basin management. It also identifies the current trends and common pitfalls, provides some examples of successful applications and mentions the research challenges.