Part of the book: Self Organizing Maps
Water resource management and catchment analysis are crucial aspects of the twenty-first century in hydrological and environmental sciences. Linked directly with studies and research about climate change effects in global resources (e.g., diminution of rainfall dynamic), as well as continuously growing extreme natural phenomena with catastrophic results (e.g., floods and erosion), hydrological modeling has become a key priority in modern academic research goals. On a national or lower administrative level, the need for coping with natural disasters—affecting mainly human life, property, local economy, infrastructure, etc.—and the need to design management plans and projects for sustainable exploitation of natural resources set hydrological modeling in high demand by government organizations and local authorities. Thus, hazard assessment and risk evaluation modeling have become a strategic aim and an extremely useful tool for stakeholders, decision-makers, and scientific community.
Part of the book: Empirical Modeling and Its Applications