Storage-discharge relationships are fundamental to conceptualizing and modeling watershed behavior. The amounts, partitioning, and dynamics of watershed storage are fundamental to catchment function and classification. However, watershed storage is difficult to measure, and there is substantial spatial and temporal variation in water content of various pools. Uncertainty in total storage comes from insufficient sampling within each pool, errors or bias in particular measurements (e.g. soil moisture), indefinite characterization of pedologic and lithologic layers, uncertainty in subsurface flow boundaries, and effects of barometric pressure on water table measurements.

In this session, we hope to bring together investigators exploring uncertainty in storage estimates, examining relative effects of uncertainty in individual pools on total watershed storage, and managing storage uncertainty in watershed modeling.