Uncertainty assessment

Abstract

Assessing uncertainties in measurements must become a standard practice in the field of urban drainage andstormwater management. This chapter presents three standard methods to estimate uncertainties: the Type Amethod (repeated measurements), the Type B method (law of propagation of uncertainties) and the MCmethod (Monte Carlo method). Each method is described with its fundamental principles and equations,various examples are presented in detail and Matlab® codes are given to facilitate the calculations forroutine applications. An advanced method to account for partial autocorrelation in time series ispresented. Lastly, typical orders of magnitude of standard uncertainties for usual sensors used in urbandrainage and stormwater management are given.