Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 14 2 2010 10.5194/hess-14-369-2010 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/369/2010/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/369/2010/hess-14-369-2010.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/369/2010/hess-14-369-2010.pdf 369 382 2010-02-23 <i>HESS Opinions</i> On the use of laboratory experimentation: "Hydrologists, bring out shovels and garden hoses and hit the dirt" M. G. Kleinhans m.kleinhans@geo.uu.nl M. F. P. Bierkens M. van der Perk Faculty of Geosciences, Universiteit Utrecht, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands From an outsider's perspective, hydrology combines field work with modelling, but mostly ignores the potential for gaining understanding and conceiving new hypotheses from controlled laboratory experiments. 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