arXiv Machine Learning

A Dataset and Model for Imputing Water Surface Elevation on a Large and Extremely Sparse Spatiotemporal Graph

The paper introduces AmazonSWE, a dataset covering over 19,000 river sections in the Amazon basin for 10 years (2016‑2026) that integrates satellite altimetry, including SWOT, to enable large‑scale spatiotemporal graph imputation. The dataset is extremely sparse—fewer than 1% of sections are observed daily—and features a directed acyclic river topology that is larger and structurally distinct from existing benchmarks. The authors demonstrate that conventional imputation methods struggle with this topology, scale, and sparsity, and propose a bidirectional selective state‑space model that outperforms prior approaches, reducing RMSE against in‑situ gauges by 18‑39% and providing predictions for every river section. whyItMatters":"AmazonSWE offers a novel, real‑world use case that could improve flood forecasting and water resource management by enabling more accurate and comprehensive water surface elevation estimates across a vast, sparsely monitored river network."

Hugging Face Trending Papers
Sep 10

A Dataset and Model for Imputing Water Surface Elevation on a Large and Extremely Sparse Spatiotemporal Graph

The paper introduces AmazonSWE, a dataset covering over 19,000 river sections in the Amazon basin for 10 years, combining satellite altimetry and in‑situ gauge data to enable large‑scale spatiotemporal graph imputation. The authors highlight the extreme sparsity of observations—less than 1% of sections per day—and the directed acyclic topology of river networks, which challenge existing imputation methods. They propose a bidirectional selective state‑space model that samples connected subgraphs and uses topology‑aware positional encodings, achieving 18–39% lower RMSE than the current state‑of‑the‑art SWOT‑based approach while providing predictions for all river sections.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 24

Reconstructing GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage with Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Networks: An Application to South America

arXiv:2606. 23833v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Terrestrial water storage (TWS) integrates snow, soil moisture, surface water, and groundwater and is a key indicator of how climate variability and human activity reshape the global water cycle.

By Lukas Arzoumanidis, Lara Johannsen, Klara Middendorf, Annette Eicker, Youness Dehbi
arXiv Machine Learning
Oct 21

Learning global river system hydrodynamics with a topology-informed foundation model

The paper introduces GraphRiverCast (GRC), a topology-informed foundation model that predicts daily multivariate hydrodynamics across the global river network using sparse gauge data. By leveraging river connectivity and energetics, GRC outperforms both physics-based and traditional machine-learning models, maintaining skill over long lead times and generalizing to ungauged reaches and finer-resolution networks. The approach demonstrates how incorporating system structure can improve predictions in observation-limited Earth systems.

By Hancheng Ren, Gang Zhao, Shuo Wang, Louise Slater, Dai Yamazaki, Shu Liu, Jingfang Fan, Xueying Li, Shibo Cui, Ziming Yu, Shengyu Kang, Depeng Zuo, Dingzhi Peng, Zongxue Xu, Bo Pang
arXiv AI
Jul 3

Spatial Support Matters: Geometry-Aware Graph Fusion for Rainfall Field Reconstruction

arXiv:2607. 01621v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Fine-scale rainfall reconstruction is critical for urban flood modeling, but real rainfall sensing systems observe the field through incompatible spatial supports: gauges measure points, microwave links measure paths, and radar/satellite products measure gridded areas.

By Low Jun Yu, Niramay Kachhadiya, Herath Mudiyanselage Viraj Vidura Herath, Sanka Rasnayaka, Lucy Amanda Marshall
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 24

Transformer-based Diffusion models for Hydrological Time Series Probabilistic Imputation and Forecasting

arXiv:2607. 21200v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The modeling of hydrometeorological time series with limited observations is a key challenge in the monitoring of hydro-systems and water resources, as well as for flood or drought risk assessment.

By Ferdinand Bhavsar (INRAE), Lionel Benoit (INRAE), Maxime Savatier (ANDRA), Edith Gabriel (INRAE)
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 26

Topology enables learning-based hydrodynamic prediction of the global river system

arXiv:2602.22293v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Accurate river prediction is essential for water, food and energy security, yet remains challenging across entire river networks. Machine learning...

By Hancheng Ren, Gang Zhao, Shuo Wang, Louise Slater, Dai Yamazaki, Shu Liu, Jingfang Fan, Xueying Li, Shibo Cui, Ziming Yu, Shengyu Kang, Depeng Zuo, Dingzhi Peng, Zongxue Xu, Bo Pang
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 20

DELUGE: Towards Continental-Scale Daily Pluvial Flood Damage Prediction via Interpretable Conditioning on Foundation Model Embeddings

arXiv:2607. 16050v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Pluvial (rainfall-driven) flooding accounts for 45% of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims in the United States and is harder to predict than its riverine and coastal counterparts, with existing approaches limited to coarse resolution, regional domains, or computationally intensive process-based models unsuitable for daily continental-scale use.

By Yuya Kawakami, Daniel Cayan, Dongyu Liu, Kwan-Liu Ma, Tom Corringham
arXiv AI
Oct 27

EvoBench: An Evolving, Diagnostic Benchmark Framework for Environmental Modeling

EvoBench is a diagnostic benchmark framework designed to reveal where and when machine‑learning models for environmental variables fail, rather than relying on a single average accuracy score. It tracks model performance over time and across spatial extrapolation, highlighting issues such as non‑stationarity, poor performance at unmonitored sites, and under‑prediction of rare events like floods. In a case study on daily streamflow prediction across 9,000 U.S. basins, EvoBench shows that no model dominates all scenarios and that targeted fixes can mitigate identified weaknesses.

By Yiming Sun, Yuan Zhang, Qi Cheng, Yingda Fan, Runlong Yu, Yiqun Xie, Xiaowei Jia