Abstract
Abstract. Choosing a probability distribution to represent daily precipitation depths is important for precipitation frequency analysis, stochastic precipitation modeling and in climate trend assessments. Early studies identified the two-parameter gamma (G2) distribution as a suitable distribution for wet-day precipitation based on the traditional goodness-of-fit tests. Here, probability plot correlation coefficients and L-moment diagrams are used to examine distributional alternatives for the wet-day series of daily precipitation for hundreds of stations at the point and catchment scales in the United States. Importantly, both Pearson Type-III (P3) and kappa (KAP) distributions perform very well, particularly for point rainfall. Our analysis indicates that the KAP distribution best describes the distribution of wet-day precipitation at the point scale, whereas the performance of G2 and P3 distributions are comparable for wet-day precipitation at the catchment scale, with P3 generally providing the improved goodness of fit over G2. Since the G2 distribution is currently the most widely used probability density function, our findings could be considerably important, especially within the context of climate change investigations.
Highlights
Precipitation is paramount in the fields of hydrology, meteorology, climatology and others
Investigations into the probability distribution of daily precipitation can be found in at least three main research areas, namely, (1) stochastic precipitation models, (2) frequency analysis of precipitation and (3) precipitation trends related to global climate change
This study has demonstrated that L-moment diagrams and probability plot correlation coefficient goodness-of-fit evaluations can provide new insight into the distribution of very long series of daily wet-day precipitation at both the point and catchment scales
Summary
Precipitation is paramount in the fields of hydrology, meteorology, climatology and others. Investigations into the probability distribution of daily precipitation can be found in at least three main research areas, namely, (1) stochastic precipitation models, (2) frequency analysis of precipitation and (3) precipitation trends related to global climate change. We only consider the selection of a suitable distribution for modeling wet-day daily rainfall, leaving the stochastic representation of the occurrence of zeros to others
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