Regional Frequency Analysis of Maximum Monthly Rainfall in Haryana State of India Using L-Moments

Abstract

The paper aims to select the appropriate regional frequency distribution for the maximum monthly rainfall and estimation of quantiles using L-moments for the 27 rain gauge stations in Haryana. These 27 rain gauge stations were grouped into three homogeneous regions (Region-1, Region-2, and Region-3) using Ward’s method of cluster analysis. To confirm the homogeneity of each region, L-moments based measure of heterogeneity was used. For each homogeneous region, a regional distribution was selected with the help of the L-moments ratio diagram and goodness-of-fit test. Results of the goodness-of-fit test and L-moments ratio diagram indicated that Generalized Logistic and Generalized Extreme Value distributions were best- fitted regional frequency distributions for the Region-1 and Region-2 respectively while for Region-3, Pearson Type-3) was best-fitted distribution. The quantiles for each region were calculated and the regional growth curves were developed. The accuracy measurements were determined using Monte Carlo simulations for the regional quantiles. Results of simulations showed that uncertainty in regional quantiles measured by Root Mean Square Error value and 90 percent error limits were small when the return period was low but uncertainty in quantiles increases as the return period increases.