- Published
- 2022-07-19
- Venue
- Geoscientific model development, vol. 15, no. 14, pp. 5481-5487
- Cited by
- 2,301
- Open access
- Yes, gold
- DOI
- 10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022
Abstract
The mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) are widely used metrics for evaluating models. Yet, there remains enduring confusion over their use, such that a standard practice is to present both, leaving it to the reader to decide. Some of this confusion arises from a recent debate between Willmott and Draxler (2005) and Chai and Draxler (2014), in which either side presents their arguments for one metric over the other. Neither side was completely correct; however, because neither metric is inherently better: MAE is optimal for Laplacian errors, and RMSE is optimal for normal (Gaussian) errors. When errors deviate from these distributions, other metrics are superior.
Cite this paper
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- APA 7
Hodson, T. (2022). Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not. Geoscientific model development, 15(14), 5481–5487. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022
- MLA 9
Hodson, Timothy. "Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not." Geoscientific model development, vol. 15, no. 14, 2022, pp. 5481–5487, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022.
- Chicago
Hodson, Timothy. "Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not." Geoscientific model development 15, no. 14 (2022): 5481–5487. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022.
- GOST
Hodson T. Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not // Geoscientific model development. — 2022. — Vol. 15, № 14. — P. 5481–5487. — URL: https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022
- BibTeX
@article{hodson2022rootmeansquare, title = {{Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not}}, author = {Timothy Hodson}, journal = {Geoscientific model development}, year = {2022}, volume = {15}, number = {14}, pages = {5481--5487}, doi = {10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022}, url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022} }- RIS
TY - JOUR AU - Hodson, Timothy TI - Root-mean-square error (RMSE) or mean absolute error (MAE): when to use them or not JO - Geoscientific model development VL - 15 IS - 14 SP - 5481 EP - 5487 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/07/19 DO - 10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022 UR - https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5481-2022 ER -