TITLE:
What Rainfall Return Frequency?
AUTHORS:
T. V. Hromadka II, M. Phillips, P. Rao, B. Espinosa, R. Perez, M. Barton
KEYWORDS:
Rainfall Return Frequency; Comparison of Return Frequency Estimates; Rainfall; Rainfall Atlas
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
8,
2013
ABSTRACT: In this paper, a comparison is made of available rainfall data in a localized study area of Los Angeles County, California. This particular area has also been studied by the State of California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the National Weather Service (NWS) National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Public Works. All three of these cited governmental agencies independently analyzed the rainfall data to identify rainfall trends for the study area, and then prepared statistical analyses in order to develop estimates of return frequencies for various peak durations of rainfall, among other items of interest to hydrologists. Additionally, these three agencies have available two different analyses of the available data, resulting in updates to their respective published works. Consequently, six different statistical analyses are available for comparison and assessment. In this paper, an examination is made of these six statistical studies and some of the differences between the various analyses are identified and explained.