Opinion article
01 Oct 2009
Opinion article | 01 Oct 2009
HESS Opinions "Crash tests for a standardized evaluation of hydrological models"
V. Andréassian1, C. Perrin1, L. Berthet1,6, N. Le Moine2, J. Lerat3,*, C. Loumagne1, L. Oudin4, T. Mathevet5, M.-H. Ramos1, and A. Valéry1
V. Andréassian et al.
V. Andréassian1, C. Perrin1, L. Berthet1,6, N. Le Moine2, J. Lerat3,*, C. Loumagne1, L. Oudin4, T. Mathevet5, M.-H. Ramos1, and A. Valéry1
- 1Cemagref, Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit, Antony, France
- 2EDF-LNHE, Chatou, France
- 3Cemagref, G-EAU Research Unit, Montpellier, France
- 4Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR Sisyphe, Paris, France
- 5EDF-DTG, Grenoble, France
- 6AgroParisTech, Paris, France
- *now at: CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
- 1Cemagref, Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit, Antony, France
- 2EDF-LNHE, Chatou, France
- 3Cemagref, G-EAU Research Unit, Montpellier, France
- 4Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR Sisyphe, Paris, France
- 5EDF-DTG, Grenoble, France
- 6AgroParisTech, Paris, France
- *now at: CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
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Received: 07 Apr 2009 – Discussion started: 04 May 2009 – Revised: 31 Aug 2009 – Accepted: 02 Sep 2009 – Published: 01 Oct 2009
As all hydrological models are intrinsically limited hypotheses on the behaviour of catchments, models – which attempt to represent real-world behaviour – will always remain imperfect. To make progress on the long road towards improved models, we need demanding tests, i.e. true crash tests. Efficient testing requires large and varied data sets to develop and assess hydrological models, to ensure their generality, to diagnose their failures, and ultimately, help improving them.
