Articles | Volume 27, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-139-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-139-2023
Research article
 | 
09 Jan 2023
Research article |  | 09 Jan 2023

Continuous streamflow prediction in ungauged basins: long short-term memory neural networks clearly outperform traditional hydrological models

Richard Arsenault, Jean-Luc Martel, Frédéric Brunet, François Brissette, and Juliane Mai

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Cited articles

Abrahart, R. J., Anctil, F., Coulibaly, P., Dawson, C. W., Mount, N. J., See, L. M., Shamseldin, A. Y., Solomatine, D. P., Toth, E., and Wilby, R. L.: Two decades of anarchy? Emerging themes and outstanding challenges for neural network river forecasting, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 36, 480–513, https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133312444943, 2012.  
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Predicting flow in rivers where no observation records are available is a daunting task. For decades, hydrological models were set up on these gauges, and their parameters were estimated based on the hydrological response of similar or nearby catchments where records exist. New developments in machine learning have now made it possible to estimate flows at ungauged locations more precisely than with hydrological models. This study confirms the performance superiority of machine learning models.