Marginal methods of intensity‐duration‐frequency estimation in scaling and nonscaling rainfall

Abstract

[1] Practical methods for the estimation of the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves are usually based on the observed annual maxima of the rainfall intensity I(d) in intervals of different duration d. Using these historical annual maxima, one estimates the IDF curves under the condition that the rainfall intensity in an interval of duration d with return period T is the product of a function a(T) of T and a function b(d) of d (separability condition). Various parametric or semiparametric assumptions on a(T) and b(d) produce different specific methods. As alternatives we develop IDF estimation procedures based on the marginal distribution of I(d). If the marginal distribution scales in a multifractal way with d, this condition can be incorporated. We also consider hybrid methods that estimate the IDF curves using both marginal and annual maximum rainfall information. We find that the separability condition does not hold and that the marginal and hybrid methods perform better than the annual maximum estimators in terms of accuracy and robustness relative to outlier rainfall events. This is especially true for long return periods and when the length of the available record is short. Marginal and hybrid methods produce accurate IDF estimates also when only a few years of continuous rainfall data are available.Citation: Veneziano, D., C. Lepore, A. Langousis, and P. Furcolo (2007), Marginal methods of intensity-duration-frequency estimation in scaling and nonscaling rainfall, Water Resour.

Theoretical framework to estimate spatial rainfall averages conditional on river discharges and point rainfall measurements from a single location: an application to western Greece

“…The first observation is in accordance with the findings of many studies suggesting the use of a lognormal distribution model for rainfall intensities; see e.g. Kedem et al (1990aKedem et al ( ,b, 1997, Shimizu (1993), Cheng and Qi (2002), Cho et al (2004), Veneziano and Langousis (2005a,b), Shoji and Kitaura (2006), Veneziano et al (2006Veneziano et al ( , 2007, Suhaila and Jemain (2007), Langousis and Veneziano (2007), and . The second observation is physically justified since the variability of rainfall should not depend on the previous-day flow conditions.…”

On the use of the simple scaling of heavy rainfall in a regional estimation of IDF curves in Slovakia

“…Analyzovali sa škálovacie vlastnosti zrážok a vznikali rôzne modely škálovania, napr. Gupta, Waymire (1990), Koutsoyiannis, FoufoulaGeorgiu (1993), Veneziano et al (1996;, Molnar, Burlando (2008). Model jednoduchého škálovania aplikovali na zrážkové intenzity napr.…”

“…They recognize rainfall organization at different scales through the concept of mesoscale precipitation areas and the clustering of cells in space and time; see e.g. Waymire, Gupta (1981), Waymire et al (1984), Rodriguez-Iturbe et al (1984), Marien, Vandewiele (1986), Sivapalan, Wood (1987), Veneziano et al (1996;.…”

On the nature of rainfall intermittency as revealed by different metrics and sampling approaches

“…A considerable number of studies have focused on the characterization and simulation of rainfall intermittency in the time domain, a concept often used to refer to two diverse aspects of variability: (i) the alternation of dry and wet periods, identified through the construction of the binary series, which form the so-called support of the measure (Verrier et al, 2011;Kundu and Siddani,356 G. Mascaro et al: On the nature of rainfall intermittency the rainfall intensity occurring over the support (Lovejoy and Schertzer, 1990;Venugopal et al, 1999;Deidda, 2000;Deidda et al, 2004Deidda et al, , 2006Molini et al, 2009;Rigby and Porporato, 2010). Rainfall intermittency can thus be attributed to two components: the variability of the support and, for a given support, the fluctuations of the amplitudes of rainfall intensity (Veneziano and Langousis, 2005a,b;Langousis and Veneziano, 2007;Veneziano et al, 2006Veneziano et al, , 2007.…”