Halphen Distribution System. I: Mathematical and Statistical Properties
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 4, Issue 3
Abstract
In the 1940s, Étienne Halphen, a French statistician and hydrologist, developed a set of distributions for frequency analysis of river flows. Halphen's research was fueled by an extensive practical experience with hydrological data combined with a solid knowledge of statistics. Because of their complex form involving Bessel functions and exponential factorial functions, Halphen's distributions have remained for several years in oblivion. This paper revisits the three types of Halphen distributions, in particular their mathematical and statistical properties. Their flexible shapes and tail properties should make them excellent candidates for frequency analysis of extremes. A companion paper presents procedures for estimating parameters and quantiles of Halphen's distribution.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 4 • Issue 3 • July 1999
Pages: 189 - 199
History
Received: Jan 8, 1998
Published online: Jul 1, 1999
Published in print: Jul 1999
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