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Basic statistical characteristics of hourly rainfall amounts in Barcelona (Spain)

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Summary

In order to derive some statistical rainfall characteristics applicable to hydrology, data of continuous rainfall rate recordings of a Jardí gauge installed in Barcelona (Spain) have been converted to an hourly precipitation series. From these data, four useful distributions have been obtained and further compared with some theoretical models. It has been found that the duration of events is distributed exponentially. The duration of rainless intervals follow a generalized Pareto distribution, and the cumulative rainfall in the cumulative rain duration is beta distributed. Concerning the distribution of rain amounts, two models can be accepted, depending on the duration of the events. Comparison with a similar study carried out in Farnborough (United Kingdom) indicates that the events are shorter and that the amounts of rain collected in short events are larger in Barcelona.

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This work was supported by the DGICYT (Project NAT91-0596) and the CCE (Project PL 910104 Environment).

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Burgueño, A., Codina, B., Redaño, A. et al. Basic statistical characteristics of hourly rainfall amounts in Barcelona (Spain). Theor Appl Climatol 49, 175–181 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00865532

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00865532

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