Data-based continuous-time modelling of environmental systems

Hugues Garnier (1) , Peter C. Young (2) , Stéphane Thil (1) , Marion Gilson (1)

1 CRAN - Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy
2 CRES - Centre for Research on Environmental Systems and Statistics

In this paper, we argue that many environmental processes are more naturally defined in the context of continuous-time differential equation models, normally derived by the application of natural laws, such as mass and energy conservation. As a result, there are advantages if such models are estimated directly in this continuous-time differential equation form, rather than being formulated and estimated as discrete-time models. This paper discusses these advantages and briefly describes the key features of the two toolboxes for use with MATLAB which support the advanced time-domain methods for directly identifying linear continuous-time models from discrete-time data. The arguments presented in the paper are finally illustrated by a practical example in which the proposed data-based approach to direct CT modelling is applied to a set of rainfall-flow data.

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

Hugues Garnier, Peter C. Young, Stéphane Thil, Marion Gilson. Data-based continuous-time modelling of environmental systems. 5ème conférence STIC & Environnement, Nov 2007, Lyon, France. pp.CDROM. ⟨hal-00167182⟩