  The gradient (Wilson) flow has been introduced recently in order to provide a
solid theoretical framework for the smoothing of ultraviolet noise in lattice
gauge configurations. It is interesting to ask how it compares with other, more
heuristic and numerically cheaper smoothing techniques, such as standard
cooling. In this study we perform such a comparison, focusing on observables
related to topology. We show that, already for moderately small lattice
spacings, standard cooling and the gradient flow lead to equivalent results,
both for average quantities and configuration by configuration.
