Estimation of the G2P Design Storm from a Rainfall Convectivity Index

Abstract

The two-parameter gamma function (G2P) design storm is a recent methodology used to obtain synthetic hyetographs especially developed for urban hydrology applications. Further analytical developments on the G2P design storm are presented herein, linking the rainfall convectivity n-index with the shape parameter of the design storm. This step can provide a useful basis for future easy-to-handle rainfall inputs in the context of regional urban drainage studies. A practical application is presented herein for the case of Valencia (Spain), based on high-resolution time series of rainfall intensity. The resulting design storm captures certain internal statistics and features observed in the fine-scale rainfall intensity historical records. On the other hand, a direct, simple method is formulated to derivate the design storm from the intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves, making use of the analytical relationship with the n-index.