The influence of temporal rainfall distribution in the flood runoff modelling

Abstract

The rainfall input is one of the main factors influencing the magnitude of the runoff response during a flood event. Its temporal and spatial distribution significantly contributes to the formation of hydrograph shape, peak discharge and flood volume. A novel approach to the evaluation of the role of the temporal rainfall pattern of hydrograph is presented in this contribution. The methodology shown is based on the coupling of the deterministic event based runoff model with the stochastic rainfall disaggregation model. The rainfall model simulates the hyetograph ensemble, which is the direct input to the calibrated event based runoff model. The event based runoff model calibration is based on the evaluation of real flood events. The rainfall ensemble is simulated according to the preservation of important statistical properties, which are estimated from the real rainfall data inputs. The proposed combination of two simulation techniques enables to generate the hydrograph ensemble upon a single flood event. The evaluation of the temporal rainfall distribution impact on the flood runoff response is performed through the determination of the selected rainfall runoff characteristics of the simulated hydrograph ensemble. The main result confirms the importance of the rainfall volume inputs and its temporal distribution on the flood runoff generation. The methodology shown enables to evaluate the potential of the real flood event to generate the flood event within the conditions of the small catchment scale.