Title
Methods used for the development of neural networks for the prediction of water resource variables in river systems: Current status and future directions
Abstract
Over the past 15 years, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been used increasingly for prediction and forecasting in water resources and environmental engineering. However, despite this high level of research activity, methods for developing ANN models are not yet well established. In this paper, the steps in the development of ANN models are outlined and taxonomies of approaches are introduced for each of these steps. In order to obtain a snapshot of current practice, ANN development methods are assessed based on these taxonomies for 210 journal papers that were published from 1999 to 2007 and focus on the prediction of water resource variables in river systems. The results obtained indicate that the vast majority of studies focus on flow prediction, with very few applications to water quality. Methods used for determining model inputs, appropriate data subsets and the best model structure are generally obtained in an ad-hoc fashion and require further attention. Although multilayer perceptrons are still the most popular model architecture, other model architectures are also used extensively. In relation to model calibration, gradient based methods are used almost exclusively. In conclusion, despite a significant amount of research activity on the use of ANNs for prediction and forecasting of water resources variables in river systems, little of this is focused on methodological issues. Consequently, there is still a need for the development of robust ANN model development approaches.
Year
DOI
Venue
2010
10.1016/j.envsoft.2010.02.003
Environmental Modelling & Software
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Artificial neural networks,Water resources,River systems,Forecasting,Prediction,Modelling process,Model development,Review
Journal
25
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
8
1364-8152
3
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.44
0
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Holger R. Maier173872.97
Ashu Jain211513.18
Graeme C. Dandy344147.01
K.P. Sudheer430.44