Handling non-stationary flood frequency analysis using TL-moments approach for estimation parameter

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 966-979
Author(s):  
Nur Amalina Mat Jan ◽  
Ani Shabri ◽  
Ruhaidah Samsudin

Abstract Non-stationary flood frequency analysis (NFFA) plays an important role in addressing the issue of the stationary assumption (independent and identically distributed flood series) that is no longer valid in infrastructure-designed methods. This confirms the necessity of developing new statistical models in order to identify the change of probability functions over time and obtain a consistent flood estimation method in NFFA. The method of Trimmed L-moments (TL-moments) with time covariate is confronted with the L-moment method for the stationary and non-stationary generalized extreme value (GEV) models. The aims of the study are to investigate the behavior of the proposed TL-moments method in the presence of NFFA and applying the method along with GEV distribution. Comparisons of the methods are made by Monte Carlo simulations and bootstrap-based method. The simulation study showed the better performance of most levels of TL-moments method, which is TL(η,0), (η = 2, 3, 4) than the L-moment method for all models (GEV1, GEV2, and GEV3). The TL-moment method provides more efficient quantile estimates than other methods in flood quantiles estimated at higher return periods. Thus, the TL-moments method can produce better estimation results since the L-moment eliminates lowest value and gives more weight to the largest value which provides important information.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Do-Hun Lee ◽  
Nam Won Kim

The design of hydraulic structures and the assessment of flood control measures require the estimation of flood quantiles. Since observed flood data are rarely available at the specific location, flood estimation in un-gauged or poorly gauged basins is a common problem in engineering hydrology. We investigated the flood estimation method in a poorly gauged basin. The flood estimation method applied the combination of rainfall-runoff model simulation and regional flood frequency analysis (RFFA). The L-moment based index flood method was performed using the annual maximum flood (AMF) data simulated by the rainfall-runoff model. The regional flood frequency distribution with 90% error bounds was derived in the Chungju dam basin of Korea, which has a drainage area of 6648 km2. The flood quantile estimates based on the simulated AMF data were consistent with the flood quantile estimates based on the observed AMF data. The widths of error bounds of regional flood frequency distribution increased sharply as the return period increased. The results suggest that the flood estimation approach applied in this study has the potential to estimate flood quantiles when the hourly rainfall measurements during major storms are widely available and the observed flood data are limited.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
pp. 3499-3505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neslihan Seckin ◽  
Tefaruk Haktanir ◽  
Recep Yurtal

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1283-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lawrence ◽  
E. Paquet ◽  
J. Gailhard ◽  
A. K. Fleig

Abstract. Simulation methods for extreme flood estimation represent an important complement to statistical flood frequency analysis because a spectrum of catchment conditions potentially leading to extreme flows can be assessed. In this paper, stochastic, semi-continuous simulation is used to estimate extreme floods in three catchments located in Norway, all of which are characterised by flood regimes in which snowmelt often has a significant role. The simulations are based on SCHADEX, which couples a precipitation probabilistic model with a hydrological simulation such that an exhaustive set of catchment conditions and responses is simulated. The precipitation probabilistic model is conditioned by regional weather patterns, and a bottom–up classification procedure was used to define a set of weather patterns producing extreme precipitation in Norway. SCHADEX estimates for the 1000-year (Q1000) discharge are compared with those of several standard methods, including event-based and long-term simulations which use a single extreme precipitation sequence as input to a hydrological model, statistical flood frequency analysis based on the annual maximum series, and the GRADEX method. The comparison suggests that the combination of a precipitation probabilistic model with a long-term simulation of catchment conditions, including snowmelt, produces estimates for given return periods which are more in line with those based on statistical flood frequency analysis, as compared with the standard simulation methods, in two of the catchments. In the third case, the SCHADEX method gives higher estimates than statistical flood frequency analysis and further suggests that the seasonality of the most likely Q1000 events differs from that of the annual maximum flows. The semi-continuous stochastic simulation method highlights the importance of considering the joint probability of extreme precipitation, snowmelt rates and catchment saturation states when assigning return periods to floods estimated by precipitation-runoff methods. The SCHADEX methodology, as applied here, is dependent on observed discharge data for calibration of a hydrological model, and further study to extend its application to ungauged catchments would significantly enhance its versatility.


1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 856-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Gingras ◽  
Kaz Adamowski

A simulation study was undertaken to compare parametric L-moments and nonparametric approaches in flood frequency analysis. Data of various sample lengths were generated from a given generalized extreme value distribution and the quantiles estimated using the fixed-kernel nonparametric method and from a generalized extreme value distribution fitted by L-moments. From the resulting root-mean-square errors for various quantiles, it was concluded for unimodal distributions that nonparametric methods are preferable for large return period floods estimated from short (<30 years) samples while parametric methods are preferable in other circumstances. It was also pointed out that nonparametric methods are more suitable for mixed distributions. Key words: frequency analysis, L-moments, nonparametric methods, simulation.


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