Stochastic Hydrology: An Introduction to Wet Statistics for Dry Statisticians

Water resource systems have been an important part of resources and environment related research at IIASA since its inception. As demands for water increase relative to supply, the intensity and efficiency of water resources management must be developed further. This in turn requires an increase in the degree of detail and sophistication of the analysis, including economic, social and environmental evaluation of water resources development alternatives aided by application of mathematical modeling techniques, to generate inputs for planning, design, and operational decisions. This paper is concerned with some aspects of stochastic modeling in hydrology which are of fundamental importance for planning, design, and operation of water resources systems. The author points out that in spite of the rich growth of stochastic modeling in this field that has occurred in the last decade, the emphasis is still more on the probabilistic model than on the "statistical questions to which the model gives rise". The additional research needs are stressed