  We investigate artificial neural networks as a parametrization tool for
stochastic inputs in numerical simulations. We address parametrization from the
point of view of emulating the data generating process, instead of explicitly
constructing a parametric form to preserve predefined statistics of the data.
This is done by training a neural network to generate samples from the data
distribution using a recent deep learning technique called generative
adversarial networks. By emulating the data generating process, the relevant
statistics of the data are replicated. The method is assessed in subsurface
flow problems, where effective parametrization of underground properties such
as permeability is important due to the high dimensionality and presence of
high spatial correlations. We experiment with realizations of binary
channelized subsurface permeability and perform uncertainty quantification and
parameter estimation. Results show that the parametrization using generative
adversarial networks is very effective in preserving visual realism as well as
high order statistics of the flow responses, while achieving a dimensionality
reduction of two orders of magnitude.
