Uncertainty in river discharge observations: a quantitative analysis

Abstract. River discharge data are known to be potentially affected by a significant uncertainty. Nevertheless, the measurement error of river flow observations is often considered negligible with respect to other uncertainties that affect hydrological studies. This paper aims at analysing and quantifying the uncertainty that may be present in river discharge records. A numerical analysis was performed on a 330-km reach of the Po River (Italy). The results show that errors in river flow data are indeed far from negligible.