Rainfall-runoff modeling is a complex nonlinear time series problem. While there is still room for improvement, researchers have been developing physical and machine learning models for decades to predict runoff using rainfall data sets. With the advancement of computational hardware resources and algorithms, deep learning methods such as the long short-term memory (LSTM) model and sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) modeling have shown a good deal of promise in dealing with time series problems by considering long-term dependencies and multiple outputs. This study presents an application of a prediction model based on LSTM and the seq2seq structure to estimate hourly rainfall-runoff. Focusing on two Midwestern watersheds, namely, Clear Creek and Upper Wapsipinicon River in Iowa, these models were used to predict hourly runoff for a 24-hr period using rainfall observation, rainfall forecast, runoff observation, and empirical monthly evapotranspiration data from all stations in these two watersheds. The models were evaluated using the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient, the correlation coefficient, statistical bias, and the normalized root-mean-square error. The results show that the LSTM-seq2seq model outperforms linear regression, Lasso regression, Ridge regression, support vector regression, Gaussian processes regression, and LSTM in all stations from these two watersheds. The LSTM-seq2seq model shows sufficient predictive power and could be used to improve forecast accuracy in short-term flood forecast applications. In addition, the seq2seq method was demonstrated to be an effective method for time series predictions in hydrology. Key Points:• An hourly runoff model was developed using the LSTM sequence-to-sequence learning method for 24-hr predictions on USGS stations • The proposed model shows better performance than traditional data-driven models and is applicable to different watersheds • The advantages and limitations of seq2seq models and how this model structure could work on the rainfall-runoff modeling is presented Supporting Information:• Supporting Information S1 Correspondence to: Z. Xiang, zhongrun-xiang@uiowa.edu Citation: Xiang, Z., Yan, J., & Demir, I. (2020). A rainfall-runoff model with LSTM-based sequence-to-sequence learning. Water Resources Research, 56, e2019WR025326. https://doi.

The global volume of digital data is expected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025. The volume, variety, and velocity of water-related data are increasing due to large-scale sensor networks and increased attention to topics such as disaster response, water resources management, and climate change. Combined with the growing availability of computational resources and popularity of deep learning, these data are transformed into actionable and practical knowledge, revolutionizing the water industry. In this article, a systematic review of literature is conducted to identify existing research which incorporates deep learning methods in the water sector, with regard to monitoring, management, governance and communication of water resources. The study provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art deep learning approaches used in the water industry for generation, prediction, enhancement, and classification tasks, and serves as a guide for how to utilize available deep learning methods for future water resources challenges. Key issues and challenges in the application of these techniques in the water domain are discussed, including the ethics of these technologies for decision-making in water resources management and governance. Finally, we provide recommendations and future directions for the application of deep learning models in hydrology and water resources.

The global volume of digital data is expected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025. The volume, variety, and velocity of water-related data are increasing due to large-scale sensor networks and increased attention to topics such as disaster response, water resources management, and climate change. Combined with the growing availability of computational resources and popularity of deep learning, these data are transformed into actionable and practical knowledge, revolutionizing the water industry. In this article, a systematic review of literature is conducted to identify existing research which incorporates deep learning methods in the water sector, with regard to monitoring, management, governance and communication of water resources. The study provides a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art deep learning approaches used in the water industry for generation, prediction, enhancement, and classification tasks, and serves as a guide for how to utilize available deep learning methods for future water resources challenges. Key issues and challenges in the application of these techniques in the water domain are discussed, including the ethics of these technologies for decision-making in water resources management and governance. Finally, we provide recommendations and future directions for the application of deep learning models in hydrology and water resources.

• Developed Neural Runoff Model (NRM) using deep learning for 120 hours streamflow forecasts. • NRM on 125 USGS stations in Iowa outperforms other machine learning methods. • NRM shows effectiveness in integrating stage level data for runoff forecasts.

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Recent studies have shown that deep learning models in hydrological applications significantly improved streamflow predictions at multiple stations compared to traditional machine learning approaches. However, most studies lack generalization; i.e. researchers are training separate models for each location. The spatial and temporal generalization ability of deep learning models in hydrology that can be gained by training a single model for multiple stations is evaluated in this study. We developed a generalized model with a multi-site structure for hourly streamflow hindcasts on 125 USGS gauges. Considering watershed-scale features including drainage area, time of concentration, slope, and soil types, the proposed models have acceptable performance and slightly higher median NSE value than training individual models for each USGS station. Furthermore, we showed that the trained generalized model can be applied to any new gauge in the state of Iowa that was not used in the training set with acceptable accuracy. This study demonstrates the potential of deep learning studies in hydrology where more domain knowledge and physical features can support further generalization.

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