Development of Depth-Area-Duration (DAD) Curves for Kuantan River Basin

Abstract

AbstractDepth-Area-Duration (DAD) analysis is a procedure to determine the maximum amount of rainfall of different durations over a range of areas. DAD analysis, also referred to as DAD curves, forms an important aspect of the hydrological study. In this study, the DAD curves for the Kuantan River Basin (KRB) were developed for durations of 1, 2 and 3-day. The rainfall data from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID) were collected for eight stations in KRB to determine maximum daily rainfall. The selected maximum rainfall data for each rainfall duration were extracted afterwards. The analysis was performed using isohyetal maps initially generated by the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method to calculate the average of maximum rainfall depths for each rainfall duration. Since the maximum rainfall was required, the initial DAD curves for each duration were combined to produce a final DAD curve, which is mainly the maximum depth-area curve for the corresponding duration. This step was repeated for all durations, resulting in three final DAD curves for each time duration. By using this procedure, the average maximum rainfall for the basin area up to 1700 km2 can be estimated.KeywordsRainfallDepth-Area-Duration curvesIsohyetal mapKuantan River Basin