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© 2021. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Following the rise of R as a scientific programming language, the increasing requirement for more transferable research and the growth of data availability in hydrology, R packages containing hydrological models are becoming more and more available as an open-source resource to hydrologists. Corresponding to the core of the hydrological studies workflow, their value is increasingly meaningful regarding the reliability of methods and results. Despite package and model distinctiveness, no study has ever provided a comparison of R packages for conceptual rainfall–runoff modelling from a user perspective by contrasting their philosophy, model characteristics and ease of use. We have selected eight packages based on our ability to consistently run their models on simple hydrology modelling examples. We have uniformly analysed the exact structure of seven of the hydrological models integrated into these R packages in terms of conceptual storages and fluxes, spatial discretisation, data requirements and output provided. The analysis showed that very different modelling choices are associated with these packages, which emphasises various hydrological concepts. These specificities are not always sufficiently well explained by the package documentation. Therefore a synthesis of the package functionalities was performed from a user perspective. This synthesis helps to inform the selection of which packages could/should be used depending on the problem at hand. In this regard, the technical features, documentation, R implementations and computational times were investigated. Moreover, by providing a framework for package comparison, this study is a step forward towards supporting more transferable and reusable methods and results for hydrological modelling in R.

Details

Title
Technical note: Hydrology modelling R packages – a unified analysis of models and practicalities from a user perspective
Author
Astagneau, Paul C 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Thirel, Guillaume 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Delaigue, Olivier 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Guillaume, Joseph H A 3 ; Parajka, Juraj 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Brauer, Claudia C 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Viglione, Alberto 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Buytaert, Wouter 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Beven, Keith J 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, HYCAR Research Unit, Antony, France; Sorbonne Université, Paris, France 
 Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, HYCAR Research Unit, Antony, France 
 Institute for Water Futures and Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia 
 Institute of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, TU Vienna, Vienna, Austria 
 Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands 
 Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy 
 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK 
 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK 
Pages
3937-3973
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
ISSN
10275606
e-ISSN
16077938
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2549038759
Copyright
© 2021. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.