Dynamical systems with different characteristic behavior at multiple scales can be
modeled with hybrid methods combining a discrete model (e.g., corresponding to the
microscale) triggered by a continuous mechanism and vice versa. A data-driven
black-box-type framework is proposed, where the discrete model is parametrized with
adaptive regression techniques and the output of the continuous counterpart (e.g.,
output of partial differential equations) is coupled to the discrete system of interest in
the form of a fixed exogenous time series of external factors. Data availability
represents a significant issue for this type of coupled discrete-continuous model, and it
is shown that missing information/observations can be incorporated in the model via a
nonstationary and nonhomogeneous formulation. An unbiased estimator for
the discrete model dynamics in presence of unobserved external impacts is
derived and used to construct a data-based nonstationary and nonhomogeneous
parameter estimator based on an appropriately regularized spatiotemporal
clustering algorithm. One-step and long-term predictions are considered, and a
new Bayesian approach to discrete data assimilation of hidden information is
proposed. To illustrate our method, we apply it to synthetic data sets and
compare it with standard techniques of the machine-learning community (such as
maximum-likelihood estimation, artificial neural networks and support vector
machines).