Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city

Study region: The Msimbazi River catchment traversing Dar es Salaam city in east-central Tanzania. Study focus: The lack of high-resolution rainfall data in cities in developing countries hinders the development of suitable intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves for designing and evaluating hydra...

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Main Author: Frank Joseph Wambura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003549
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author Frank Joseph Wambura
author_facet Frank Joseph Wambura
author_sort Frank Joseph Wambura
collection DOAJ
description Study region: The Msimbazi River catchment traversing Dar es Salaam city in east-central Tanzania. Study focus: The lack of high-resolution rainfall data in cities in developing countries hinders the development of suitable intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves for designing and evaluating hydraulic structures. Thus, this study investigated the potential of relatively high-resolution reanalysis precipitation data for developing IDF curves in the poorly gauged Msimbazi River catchment in Dar es Salaam city. The time series of hourly ERA5-Land reanalysis precipitation data were used to generate the annual maximum series at four selected points in the river catchment. These were subsequently bias-corrected using parameters derived from limited observed rainfall data. The bias-corrected annual maximum series of reanalysis precipitation (AMSRP) data were fitted with the best probability distribution functions, which were then used to estimate quantiles of IDF curves for various annual exceedance probabilities. New hydrological insights: The findings revealed that uncorrected AMSRP data would have underestimated rainfall intensities in this region by a factor of two to six. Different areas in the Msimbazi River catchment have different rainfall distributions and IDF curves. Thus, no single set of IDF curves can represent rainfall intensities in the entire river catchment. Due to the potential of relatively high-resolution reanalysis precipitation data, designs and evaluations of hydraulic structures in poorly gauged cities are encouraged to use bias-corrected and location-specific IDF curves.
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spelling doaj-art-a5a1ca31b78a4ff6948bddb3d98547d22024-12-08T06:10:37ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182024-12-0156102005Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged cityFrank Joseph Wambura0Correspondence to: P.O. Box 35176, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.; Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaStudy region: The Msimbazi River catchment traversing Dar es Salaam city in east-central Tanzania. Study focus: The lack of high-resolution rainfall data in cities in developing countries hinders the development of suitable intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves for designing and evaluating hydraulic structures. Thus, this study investigated the potential of relatively high-resolution reanalysis precipitation data for developing IDF curves in the poorly gauged Msimbazi River catchment in Dar es Salaam city. The time series of hourly ERA5-Land reanalysis precipitation data were used to generate the annual maximum series at four selected points in the river catchment. These were subsequently bias-corrected using parameters derived from limited observed rainfall data. The bias-corrected annual maximum series of reanalysis precipitation (AMSRP) data were fitted with the best probability distribution functions, which were then used to estimate quantiles of IDF curves for various annual exceedance probabilities. New hydrological insights: The findings revealed that uncorrected AMSRP data would have underestimated rainfall intensities in this region by a factor of two to six. Different areas in the Msimbazi River catchment have different rainfall distributions and IDF curves. Thus, no single set of IDF curves can represent rainfall intensities in the entire river catchment. Due to the potential of relatively high-resolution reanalysis precipitation data, designs and evaluations of hydraulic structures in poorly gauged cities are encouraged to use bias-corrected and location-specific IDF curves.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003549Annual maximum seriesBias correctionBootstrap meanERA5-Land reanalysisMsimbazi River catchment
spellingShingle Frank Joseph Wambura
Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Annual maximum series
Bias correction
Bootstrap mean
ERA5-Land reanalysis
Msimbazi River catchment
title Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
title_full Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
title_fullStr Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
title_full_unstemmed Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
title_short Using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity-duration-frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
title_sort using reanalysis precipitation data for developing intensity duration frequency curves in a poorly gauged city
topic Annual maximum series
Bias correction
Bootstrap mean
ERA5-Land reanalysis
Msimbazi River catchment
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824003549
work_keys_str_mv AT frankjosephwambura usingreanalysisprecipitationdatafordevelopingintensitydurationfrequencycurvesinapoorlygaugedcity