Technical note: Uncertainty in multi-source partitioning using large tracer data sets

Correa, Alicia; Ochoa-Tocachi, Diego; Birkel, Christian

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-5059-2019

Articles | Volume 23, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-5059-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-5059-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 12

Technical note

|

16 Dec 2019

Technical note |

| 16 Dec 2019

Technical note: Uncertainty in multi-source partitioning using large tracer data sets

Alicia Correa, Diego Ochoa-Tocachi, and Christian Birkel

Model code and software

MatLab code to calculate fractions of contribution to the mixture and associated uncertainties A. Correa, D. Ochoa-Tocachi, and C. Birkel https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3518700

Short summary

The applications and availability of large tracer data sets have vastly increased in recent years leading to research into the contributions of multiple sources to a mixture. We introduce a method based on Taylor series approximation to estimate the uncertainties of such sources' contributions. The method is illustrated with examples of hydrology (14 tracers) and a MATLAB code is provided for reproducibility. This method can be generalized to any number of tracers across a range of disciplines.