Synthetic Design Hydrographs Based on Distribution Functions with Finite Support
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 5
Abstract
The primary characteristics that influence the potential of defining a synthetic design hydrograph (SDH), are the hydrograph shape, peak discharge (), volume (), and duration (). This paper studies the advantages and shortcomings of using simple distribution functions with finite support (namely, beta and generalized standard two-sided power distributions) to represent and synthesize direct runoff hydrographs. The relationships among , , , and distribution parameters are explored on a few flood events selected by a recursive digital filter algorithm and an overthreshold approach. The results obtained indicate that the adopted procedure provides a good compromise between simplicity and accuracy for building SDHs with two assigned flood characteristics (e.g., and ) and a defined shape.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank Dr. Attilio Castellarin (Università di Bologna, Italy) for kindly providing the data used in this study. The work was partly carried out under the project “Preliminary Study of Hydraulic Risk within the Basins of Rio Torbido, Torrente Rigo, Torrente Vezza, and the Related Subbasins Located in the Viterbo Administrative Province” supported by Provincia di Viterbo and Tiber River Basin Authority.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 16 • Issue 5 • May 2011
Pages: 434 - 446
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 16, 2010
Accepted: Oct 8, 2010
Published online: Oct 12, 2010
Published in print: May 1, 2011
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