Regional frequency analysis of extreme precipitation in northeastern Algeria

Abstract

The aim of the study is to improve the quality of estimating of the annual maximum daily precipitations of the northeastern area of Algeria. The regional frequency analysis based on L-moments was used. The investigated area is represented by 58 measuring stations. The main stages of the study were the definition of homogeneous regions and the identification of the regional distribution. It has been defined that the study region is homogeneous in terms of L-moments ratios despite the climatic differences within the region. Among the different tested distributions; the generalised extreme value (GEV) distribution has been identified as the most appropriate regional distribution for modelling precipitation in the region. The growth curve, derived from the regional distribution, was established. Therefore, to estimate the different return period’s precipitation quantiles in a given site of the region, the mean precipitation of the site has to be multiplied by the corresponding regional quantile (growth factor). Comparison of the quantiles estimated from the regional and at-site frequency analysis showed that in the majority of stations (82.8%) at-site model underestimates the quantiles having high return periods.

Keywords

• extreme daily precipitation
• GEV distribution
• homogeneous regions
• L-moments
• regional frequency analysis