American Society of Civil Engineers


Short Duration Rainfall Frequency Analysis in Michigan using Scale-Invariance Assumptions


by Laura A. Gerold, (Water Resour. Engr., Tetra Tech MPS, 735 W. Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 600, Milwaukee, WI 53233. E-mail: laura.gerold@ttmps.com) and David W. Watkins, Jr., (Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., Michigan Technol. Univ., 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931. E-mail: dwatkins@mtu.edu)

Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
, Vol. 10, No. 6, November/December 2005, pp. 450-457, (doi:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0699(2005)10:6(450))

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Document type: Journal Paper
Abstract: Intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) estimates are important statistical summaries of precipitation records used for hydrologic engineering design. To make use of recent data and modern statistical methods, the IDF estimates for the state of Michigan have been updated using a regional frequency analysis procedure. Since short duration data (less than one hour) are only available in the Detroit metropolitan area, scale-invariance assumptions are used to estimate short-duration IDF values throughout the state. Both simple scaling and multiscaling models are considered, and the simple scaling model is selected for practical purposes. Verification results indicate that the short-duration estimates are consistent with historical observations.


ASCE Subject Headings:
History
Hydrologic data
Michigan
Rainfall duration
Rainfall frequency
Rainfall intensity
Scale ratio