Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 9 1/2 2005 10.5194/hess-9-3-2005 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/9/3/2005/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/9/3/2005/hess-9-3-2005.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/9/3/2005/hess-9-3-2005.pdf 3 14 2005-05-09 Bringing it all together J. C. I. Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, University College Dublin, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, Ireland The various elements of the hydrological cycle are discussed in outline from the point of view of making progress in analysis through appropriate simplification of these complex processes. Parallels between stochastic and deterministic analysis and between linear and non-linear conceptual models are referred to. The emphasis is on similarities and contrasts between the analysis of hydrologic processes over the range of scales from the water molecule to the global water balance.