Impact of Extreme Rainfall on Flood Hydrographs

Abstract

Extreme rainfall is the main factor triggering flooding in various regions of the world including Indonesia. The increase in intensity and duration of current extreme rainfall is predicted as a result of global climate change. This paper aims to analyze the impact of extreme rainfall to the peak discharge of flood hydrographs at a watershed outlet in Palu, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Maximum daily rainfall data for the period 1990-1999 recorded at the Palu Meteorological Station, Central Sulawesi were selected using the Annual Maximum Series Method, and grouped into two types. Type I is the maximum daily rainfall data with extreme events and Type II is the maximum daily rainfall data without extreme events. Frequency analysis was applied to the two data groups using the best distribution method of: Normal, Normal Log, Pearson III Log, and Gumbel to obtain the design rainfall of each data group. In the next stage, the design rainfall transformation into a flood hydrograph is performed using the Nakayasu Synthetic Unit Hydrograph based on a number of return periods in one of the rivers flowing into Palu Bay, namely the Poboya River. The analysis results show that the design rainfall graphs with both extreme rainfall and without extreme rainfall are identical at the low return period and divergent at the high return period with a difference of up to 21.6% at the 1000-year return period. Correspondingly, extreme rainfall has a greater impact at the peak of the flood hydrograph with increasing return periods ranging from -1.28% to 26.81% over the entire return period.