Uncertainty sources in a large ensemble of hydrological projections: Regional Climate Models and Internal Variability matter

Multi-scenario, multi-model ensembles of hydrological projections are widely used to describe possible futures of regional hydrology and inform adaptation strategies. The Explore2 dataset is such an ensemble of river flow projections in Metropolitan France. It provides future simulations for 1735 catchments with modeling chains composed of different hydrological models forced by 36 regional climate projections based on bias-adjusted EUROCORDEX simulations. This study assesses the uncertainties of this ensemble with QUALYPSO, a method specifically designed to deal with incomplete ensembles and to disentangle and quantify all uncertainty sources, including that due to internal variability. Focusing on results obtained at the end of the century, this study shows a strong agreement between modeling chains towards decreases in low flows in a large southern part of France for a high-emission scenario, and very uncertain changes for the annual mean and high flows. Emission scenario uncertainty is the dominant source of uncertainty for low flows over the whole of France, and for mean annual flows in southeastern France. The contribution of the global and regional climate models is important for mean and high flows, especially in rainfall-dominated areas. Regional climate models contribute considerable uncertainty to low flows, much more than global models. The contribution of hydrological model uncertainty is large for low flows, moderate for mean annual flows, and small for high flows. For all climate and hydrological indicators, internal variability is often large and cannot be overlooked. It is often of the same order and sometimes larger than the uncertainty on the climate change response.