Establishment of IDF-curves for precipitation in the tropical area of Central Africa - comparison of techniques and results

• Main Authors: B. Mohymont, G. R. Demarée, D. N. Faka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2004-01-01
• Series: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/4/375/2004/nhess-4-375-2004.pdf

The establishment of Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves for precipitation remains a powerful tool in the risk analysis of natural hazards. Indeed the IDF-curves allow for the estimation of the return period of an observed rainfall event or conversely of the rainfall amount corresponding to a given return period for different aggregation times. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> There is a high need for IDF-curves in the tropical region of Central Africa but unfortunately the adequate long-term data sets are frequently not available. The present paper assesses IDF-curves for precipitation for three stations in Central Africa. More physically based models for the IDF-curves are proposed. The methodology used here has been advanced by Koutsoyiannis et al.&nbsp;(1998) and an inter-station and inter-technique comparison is being carried out. <P style='line-height: 20px;'> The IDF-curves for tropical Central Africa are an interesting tool to be used in sewer system design to combat the frequently occurring inundations in semi-urbanized and urbanized areas of the Kinshasa megapolis.