Abstract
The estimation of design rainfalls is necessary to estimate the exceedance probabilities of extreme floods required to design hydraulic structures and to quantify the risk of failure of these structures. New approaches to estimating extreme rainfall events are being developed internationally. This paper reviews methods for estimating design rainfalls, particularly extreme events, in South Africa and internationally, and highlights the need to update methods used for estimating extreme rainfall events in South Africa as a platform for future research.
Highlights
The estimation of design rainfalls and design floods is required for the design of hydraulic structures such as bridges, culverts, dam spillways and urban stormwater drainage systems
This review of literature indicates that it is clear that new and updated methods for estimating extreme design rainfall events are needed in South Africa
Design rainfall estimates are needed for the estimation of design floods which are used for the design of hydraulic structures, but to quantify the risk of failure of these structures as well
Summary
The estimation of design rainfalls and design floods is required for the design of hydraulic structures such as bridges, culverts, dam spillways and urban stormwater drainage systems. Rare design rainfalls are essential for the design of high-hazard hydraulic structures as they provide more representative design floods for return periods between 100 years and probable maximum events (Green et al, 2016a). The most recent South African method for design rainfall estimation for short and long durations was developed by Smithers and Schulze (2003), which provides estimates for return periods ranging from 2 to 200 years. The urgent need to update the data and methods used for design flood estimation in South Africa has been highlighted by Smithers and Schulze (2003), Cullis et al (2007), Görgens et al (2007), Smithers (2012) and Van Vuuren et al (2013).
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