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© 2015. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Reproducibility and repeatability of experiments are the fundamental prerequisites that allow researchers to validate results and share hydrological knowledge, experience and expertise in the light of global water management problems. Virtual laboratories offer new opportunities to enable these prerequisites since they allow experimenters to share data, tools and pre-defined experimental procedures (i.e. protocols). Here we present the outcomes of a first collaborative numerical experiment undertaken by five different international research groups in a virtual laboratory to address the key issues of reproducibility and repeatability. Moving from the definition of accurate and detailed experimental protocols, a rainfall–runoff model was independently applied to 15 European catchments by the research groups and model results were collectively examined through a web-based discussion. We found that a detailed modelling protocol was crucial to ensure the comparability and reproducibility of the proposed experiment across groups. Our results suggest that sharing comprehensive and precise protocols and running the experiments within a controlled environment (e.g. virtual laboratory) is as fundamental as sharing data and tools for ensuring experiment repeatability and reproducibility across the broad scientific community and thus advancing hydrology in a more coherent way.

Details

Title
Virtual laboratories: new opportunities for collaborative water science
Author
Ceola, S 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Arheimer, B 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Baratti, E 1 ; Blöschl, G 3 ; Capell, R 2 ; Castellarin, A 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Freer, J 4 ; Han, D 5 ; Hrachowitz, M 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hundecha, Y 2 ; Hutton, C 7 ; Lindström, G 2 ; Montanari, A 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nijzink, R 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Parajka, J 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Toth, E 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Viglione, A 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wagener, T 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department DICAM, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 
 Hydrology Research Section, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Norrköping, Sweden 
 Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria 
 School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 
 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 
 Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands 
 School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 
 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK; Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 
Pages
2101-2117
Publication year
2015
Publication date
2015
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
ISSN
10275606
e-ISSN
16077938
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2414748024
Copyright
© 2015. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.