Uncertainty in hydrological signatures

Westerberg, I. K.; McMillan, H. K.

doi:10.5194/hess-19-3951-2015

Articles | Volume 19, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3951-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3951-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 9

Research article

|

24 Sep 2015

Research article |

| 24 Sep 2015

Uncertainty in hydrological signatures

I. K. Westerberg and H. K. McMillan

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Views and downloads (calculated since 24 Apr 2015)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2015	133	121	12	266
May 2015	60	64	3	127
Jun 2015	38	26	1	65
Jul 2015	32	22	0	54
Aug 2015	14	12	0	26
Sep 2015	157	91	16	264
Oct 2015	98	83	20	201
Nov 2015	72	38	2	112
Dec 2015	32	38	2	72
Jan 2016	37	27	1	65
Feb 2016	21	37	2	60
Mar 2016	43	50	14	107
Apr 2016	18	30	1	49
May 2016	9	30	1	40
Jun 2016	6	11	0	17
Jul 2016	11	8	2	21
Aug 2016	6	17	0	23
Sep 2016	19	17	1	37
Oct 2016	13	8	3	24
Nov 2016	12	7	0	19
Dec 2016	6	7	2	15
Jan 2017	17	7	2	26
Feb 2017	11	3	1	15
Mar 2017	19	9	4	32
Apr 2017	25	11	3	39
May 2017	21	14	3	38
Jun 2017	32	13	2	47
Jul 2017	21	11	1	33
Aug 2017	12	38	3	53
Sep 2017	16	91	0	107
Oct 2017	9	96	0	105
Nov 2017	8	101	1	110
Dec 2017	14	87	0	101
Jan 2018	5	59	0	64
Feb 2018	16	45	0	61
Mar 2018	17	67	1	85
Apr 2018	12	66	0	78
May 2018	13	70	0	83
Jun 2018	7	64	0	71
Jul 2018	7	82	0	89
Aug 2018	8	76	0	84
Sep 2018	8	80	1	89
Oct 2018	11	102	0	113
Nov 2018	11	118	0	129
Dec 2018	11	108	0	119
Jan 2019	10	89	0	99
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Mar 2019	12	93	0	105
Apr 2019	11	92	0	103
May 2019	13	81	0	94
Jun 2019	16	112	0	128
Jul 2019	13	123	0	136
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Oct 2019	20	21	1	42
Nov 2019	26	22	1	49
Dec 2019	14	16	1	31
Jan 2020	18	19	4	41
Feb 2020	12	21	0	33
Mar 2020	12	13	0	25
Apr 2020	4	13	0	17
May 2020	6	13	0	19
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Jul 2020	24	15	11	50
Aug 2020	16	14	6	36
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Oct 2020	15	15	1	31
Nov 2020	16	13	0	29
Dec 2020	18	11	0	29
Jan 2021	34	22	0	56
Feb 2021	18	12	0	30
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Apr 2022	73	18	2	93
May 2022	53	16	2	71
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Aug 2022	27	18	0	45
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Feb 2023	30	26	1	57
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Apr 2023	18	20	0	38
May 2023	13	17	0	30
Jun 2023	21	25	1	47
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Aug 2023	28	29	4	61
Sep 2023	26	19	2	47
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Nov 2023	8	9	0	17
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May 2024	31	19	8	58
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Oct 2024	28	12	2	42
Nov 2024	20	13	1	34
Dec 2024	31	15	1	47
Jan 2025	28	18	3	49
Feb 2025	46	11	1	58
Mar 2025	36	19	2	57
Apr 2025	23	18	1	42
May 2025	53	14	1	68
Jun 2025	57	23	0	80
Jul 2025	47	22	1	70
Aug 2025	49	17	1	67
Sep 2025	75	33	2	110
Oct 2025	53	28	1	82
Nov 2025	44	46	2	92
Dec 2025	43	47	2	92
Jan 2026	70	50	19	139
Feb 2026	47	41	2	90
Mar 2026	44	37	8	89
Apr 2026	14	15	0	29

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 24 Apr 2015)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2015	133	121	12	266
May 2015	60	64	3	127
Jun 2015	38	26	1	65
Jul 2015	32	22	0	54
Aug 2015	14	12	0	26
Sep 2015	157	91	16	264
Oct 2015	98	83	20	201
Nov 2015	72	38	2	112
Dec 2015	32	38	2	72
Jan 2016	37	27	1	65
Feb 2016	21	37	2	60
Mar 2016	43	50	14	107
Apr 2016	18	30	1	49
May 2016	9	30	1	40
Jun 2016	6	11	0	17
Jul 2016	11	8	2	21
Aug 2016	6	17	0	23
Sep 2016	19	17	1	37
Oct 2016	13	8	3	24
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Mar 2017	19	9	4	32
Apr 2017	25	11	3	39
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Jun 2017	32	13	2	47
Jul 2017	21	11	1	33
Aug 2017	12	38	3	53
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Oct 2017	9	96	0	105
Nov 2017	8	101	1	110
Dec 2017	14	87	0	101
Jan 2018	5	59	0	64
Feb 2018	16	45	0	61
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Jun 2018	7	64	0	71
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Aug 2018	8	76	0	84
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Oct 2018	11	102	0	113
Nov 2018	11	118	0	129
Dec 2018	11	108	0	119
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Mar 2019	12	93	0	105
Apr 2019	11	92	0	103
May 2019	13	81	0	94
Jun 2019	16	112	0	128
Jul 2019	13	123	0	136
Aug 2019	12	110	0	122
Sep 2019	8	84	0	92
Oct 2019	20	21	1	42
Nov 2019	26	22	1	49
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Oct 2021	17	38	1	56
Nov 2021	19	38	1	58
Dec 2021	26	23	1	50
Jan 2022	28	24	0	52
Feb 2022	23	25	5	53
Mar 2022	32	35	3	70
Apr 2022	73	18	2	93
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Aug 2022	27	18	0	45
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Nov 2022	29	17	1	47
Dec 2022	29	14	0	43
Jan 2023	39	32	1	72
Feb 2023	30	26	1	57
Mar 2023	58	29	3	90
Apr 2023	18	20	0	38
May 2023	13	17	0	30
Jun 2023	21	25	1	47
Jul 2023	13	20	2	35
Aug 2023	28	29	4	61
Sep 2023	26	19	2	47
Oct 2023	27	22	1	50
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Jun 2024	23	16	2	41
Jul 2024	28	17	5	50
Aug 2024	55	6	1	62
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Oct 2024	28	12	2	42
Nov 2024	20	13	1	34
Dec 2024	31	15	1	47
Jan 2025	28	18	3	49
Feb 2025	46	11	1	58
Mar 2025	36	19	2	57
Apr 2025	23	18	1	42
May 2025	53	14	1	68
Jun 2025	57	23	0	80
Jul 2025	47	22	1	70
Aug 2025	49	17	1	67
Sep 2025	75	33	2	110
Oct 2025	53	28	1	82
Nov 2025	44	46	2	92
Dec 2025	43	47	2	92
Jan 2026	70	50	19	139
Feb 2026	47	41	2	90
Mar 2026	44	37	8	89
Apr 2026	14	15	0	29

Saved (final revised paper)

Latest update: 24 Apr 2026

Short summary

This study investigated the effect of uncertainties in data and calculation methods on hydrological signatures. We present a widely applicable method to evaluate signature uncertainty and show results for two example catchments. The uncertainties were often large (i.e. typical intervals of ±10–40% relative uncertainty) and highly variable between signatures. It is therefore important to consider uncertainty when signatures are used for hydrological and ecohydrological analyses and modelling.