Articles | Volume 30, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-5173-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-5173-2026
Research article
 | 
14 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 14 Aug 2026

An argument for parsimony in differentiable hydrologic models

Sandeep Poudel and Scott Steinschneider

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Cited articles

Acuña Espinoza, E., Loritz, R., Álvarez Chaves, M., Bäuerle, N., and Ehret, U.: To bucket or not to bucket? Analyzing the performance and interpretability of hybrid hydrological models with dynamic parameterization, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2705–2719, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2705-2024, 2024. 
Acuña Espinoza, E., Loritz, R., Kratzert, F., Klotz, D., Gauch, M., Álvarez Chaves, M., and Ehret, U.: Analyzing the generalization capabilities of a hybrid hydrological model for extrapolation to extreme events, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1277–1294, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1277-2025, 2025. 
Addor, N., Newman, A. J., Mizukami, N., and Clark, M. P.: The CAMELS data set: catchment attributes and meteorology for large-sample studies, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5293–5313, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5293-2017, 2017. 
Baste, S., Klotz, D., Acuña Espinoza, E., Bardossy, A., and Loritz, R.: Unveiling the limits of deep learning models in hydrological extrapolation tasks, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 5871–5891, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-5871-2025, 2025. 
Bennett, A. and Nijssen, B.: Deep learned process parameterizations provide better representations of turbulent heat fluxes in hydrologic models, Water Resour. Res., 57, e2020WR029328, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029328, 2021. 
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Short summary

Hydrological models combining physics with AI are becoming popular for predicting river flow, but are often unnecessarily complex. We tested these models across US river basins and found three key results: simpler designs perform equally well, extensive input data adds little value, and time-varying parameters do not represent actual physical processes. These results challenge assumptions that complexity improves predictions or understanding, arguing instead for simpler hybrid model development.

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