Some Remarks About Forward and Inverse Modelling in Hydrology, Within a General Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The solution to inverse problems is crucial for model calibration and to provide a good basis for model results to be reliable. This paper is based on a recently proposed conceptual framework for the development and application of mathematical models that require the solution of forward and inverse problems. The focus of this paper is on the discussion of some terminology related to the results of forward problems and their reanalysis, on the use of the proposed framework to revise and generalise some methods of solutions of the inverse problem, and to provide a non-standard insight in some aspects about the Bayesian approach to model calibration.

Keywords

• forward problems
• inverse problems
• mathematical modelling
• groundwater hydrology
• rainfall–runoff modelling
• catchment hydrology