RAINFALL INTENSITY-DURATION-FREQUENCY

FORMULA FOR INDIA

By Umesh C. Kothyari 1 and Ramchandra J. Garde 2

ABSTRACT: A rainfall intensity-duration-frequency relationship is needed for

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

planning and design of water resources projects. Little information is available

about rainfall intensities, in particular for short durations. Data from 80 rain-gage
stations in India were analyzed. Making use of the assumption that general prop-
erties of the convective cells that are associated with short-period (i.e. less than 24
hr) rainfalls are similar in different hydrologic regions, a general relationship for
rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency was developed. The correctness of form
of the developed relationship was ascertained through its comparison with existing
equations and the use of data from different hydrological regions. The relationship
proposed herein is found to produce more realistic results for Indian conditions
than the ones in vogue. The applicability of this relationship to the data from other
countries was checked with the limited data available. The proposed relationship
may be used in India for design practices.

INTRODUCTION

A rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationship equation is

needed for planning and design of water resources projects. The estimates
of rainfall intensities of different durations and recurrence intervals are also
needed for realistic estimation of floods in India (Garde and Kothyari 1990).
The empirical formula commonly used to describe the IDF relationship can
be represented by the simple equation (Bernard 1932)

IJ=^I1 (1)

Here If = rainfall intensity having duration t and recurrence interval T;

and a0, au and a2 = constants. In general, the rainfall stations lying in a
catchment are grouped together for developing the IDF relationship of the
form of (1). Thus, the IDF relationships can be site dependent through the
use of parameters a0, au and a2. However, general properties of the con-
vective cells associated with short-period (i.e. less than 24 hr) rainfalls are
similar in different hydrologic regions (Raudkivi 1979). A comparison of
available IDF relationships for short-duration storms, given by Chow (1964),
Raudkivi (1979), Gert et al. (1987), Chen (1983), and Hargreaves (1988)
reveals that the values of exponents of variables t and T do not vary much
from place to place for shorter duration rainfalls. The exponent of T ranges
between 0.18 and 0.26 and that of t ranges between 0.7 and 0.85. Keeping
these points in view, only rainfall intensities having durations less than 24
hr are considered in present investigation.
Several studies have been carried out, and formulas have been proposed
for estimating the rainfall intensity in several parts of the world. Bell (1969)
proposed the following depth-duration-frequency formula:

2
'Lect, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Roorkee, Roorkee, 247 667, India.
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Nat. Open Univ., New Delhi, India.
Note. Discussion open until luly 1, 1992. To extend the closing date one month,
a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manuscript
for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on February 22,
1990. This paper is part of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 118, No. 2,
February, 1992. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9429/92/0002-0323/$1.00 +$.15 per page. Paper
No. 26542.
323

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 .,-<-'-"<, K
K ^
>A *—' N
(

i. 1
^. s
J* &1 _
'-\
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

S @
+ >
/ 1 V rr""^-.
s N .-, s'
o ' ^ • v _
S & « vr-.
L
-, A

v <•-^ 3
V A - ° \ y i
A
A \ (n J
9 9 >
Xaoy r ®^v. o 8 vWV-^-
A •
/^
To

1I A 3
® —-
~^>-J

j \ •
9

V
9
/• J
\^_ ^r. /
-5/
-s NOTATIONS
A
v_/
\~ 5
~y
-X 4

\ '
+
RAINFALL STATIONS USED
FOR VERIFICATION OF EQ.(4)
R A I N F A L L STATION USED
• 1r FOR VARIFICATION OF E Q ( 6 )

V A
;
9
1
OTHER R A I N F A L L STATIONS
NORTHERN Z O N E
\ e 2 CENTRAL ZONE

J1 3 WESTERN ZONE

Vy 5
EASTERN
SOUTHERN
ZONE
ZONE

•
: . 1
FIG. 1. Locations of Rain-Gage Stations and Zonal Boundaries in India

RJ = (0.21 In T + 0.52)(0.54f0-25 - 0.50)fl}° (2)

Here RJ = T-year, and f-hour rainfall depth in inches; and R{° = 10-year,
1 hr rainfall depth in inches. Eq. (2) is valid for partial series and for 2 =s
r(years) =£ 100 and 5 «£ ?(min) =£ 120. Baghirathan and Shaw (1978) made
rainfall depth-duration-frequency studies for Sri Lanka. Chen (1983) pro-
vided a general relationship for rainfall intensity in the United States of
America. Hargreaves (1988) presented methods for estimating rainfall in-
tensities for durations of more than 24 hr, when few data are available. All
these investigators used (2) in their studies. Ferreri and Ferro (1990) verified
the applicability of (2) in Sicily and Sardinia, in the Mediterranean.
There is a lack of long-period self-recording rainfall data in India. In the
absence of detailed data, use of regional relationships is made for hydrologic
design. Using the data from 39 stations in India, Ram Babu Tejwani et al.
(1979) developed IDF equations, and proposed different relationships for
different geographical locations in India. These relationships produced re-
sults with an error of less than ±50% (Ram Babu Tejwani et al. 1979).
Now that data from more rainfall stations in India have become available,
it is thought to be worthwhile to reanalyze them. The general relationship
for rainfall intensity as proposed by Chen (1983) was first checked for its
suitability in Indian conditions. This was not found to produce better results
324

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 2. Location of Rain-Gage Stations in Sri Lanka

for Indian data than those produced by equations of Ram Babu Tejwani et
al. (1979).
Thus, it can be seen that there is a necessity to develop a generalized
IDF relationship that would produce a realistic estimation of rainfall inten-
sity for Indian conditions and also be applicable to the data from other
countries.

DATA

Data on rainfall intensity, duration, and recurrence interval have been

compiled for rainfall stations located in various parts of India (Fig. 1).
Sources of data used in the present study were obtained from the publi-
325

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

I OBSERVED tnnm/hr.)

FIG. 3. Verification of Chen's Formula, (4)

cations by Raman and Bandyopadhya (1969), Dhar and Kulkarni (1971),

Ayyar and Tripathi (1974), Ram Babu Tejwani et al. (1979), and Rao et
al. (1983). Data from 80 stations spread over India were compiled. Re-
cording-type gages were used for rain gaging at these stations. The estimates
of rainfall intensity of given duration for different return periods were ob-
tained by these investigators using the Gumbel distribution with the method
of maximum likelihood. It was confirmed that the Gumbel distribution well
describes the variation of annual series of maximum rainfall intensity (Verma
1988). To check the applicability of the general relationship for rainfall
intensity as proposed by Chen (1983) for India, 20 rainfall stations were
selected for which the record length was more than 20 years. These stations
are well distributed over India (Fig. 1). The mean annual rainfall and max-
imum mean monthly rainfall were obtained for each station from the Rainfall
Atlas of India (1971). The two-year, 24 hr rainfall was obtained from Ayyar
and Tripathi (1973). The data on rainfall intensity, duration, and return
period for 19 stations spread over Sri Lanka (Fig. 2) were obtained from
Baghirathan and Shaw (1978); and those for Chicago were obtained from
Chen (1983). In addition, the annual maximum rainfalls for various dura-
tions for Hartford, Conn.; New York; Miami, Fla., and New Orleans, La.,
were obtained from Hershfield and Wilson (1968). Gumbel's distribution
was applied to the data to determine the rainfall intensity of different return
periods. All the data used herein had been analyzed and published else-
where; therefore, it was felt that checking the data for accuracy was

326

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 1 i 1—l—r—IT T 1 i—i—i—r-r-n
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

LU

| 10 1
o
o

± 30 °/o ERROR LINE

LINE OF AGREEMENT

10 'I I i i i i i i
10" 10^ 2x10'
I.'t (mm/hr)
OBSERVED

FIG. 4. Observed and Computed Values of IJ Using (6) with C = 8.31

2xl0 1 1 - i i i i i | /

+ 18% ERROR LINES <•/ / /

10 — — -
' IS/JAO 0 / o

- Z°m+T -

- -
LINE OF
AGREEMENT o /

o
-
NOTATIONS

/m&:7A+ + SOUTHERN ZONE

- O NORTHERN ZONE -
A EASTERN ZONE
0
J*7¥ • WESTERN ZONE
CENTRAL ZONE

—i— i i i i , , 1
10 TT 10 2x10'
\ OBSERVED (mm/hr)

FIG. 5. Observed and Computed Values of IJ Using (6)

327

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 TABLE 1. Range of Data
Range
Variable and symbol used From To
(D (2) (3)
Duration (t, min/hr) 5 24
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Return period (T, year) 2 100

Mean annual rainfall (R, mm) 300 2,500
Maximum mean monthly rainfall [CRmax, mm) 70 700
(««mJ] 0.1 0.5 •
Maximum 24 hr, two year, rainfall (R24, mm) 50 165
Rainfall intensity (/, mm/hr) 2.54 276
Period for which data are available (years) 10 53

A CALCUTTA (33 YEARS RECORD )

2— • ROORKEE (10 YEARS RECORD)
10 _

20'/, ERROR LINES

LINE OF AGREEMENT
10
Q

10v
1 0 ° 1 0 * 10'
I
t(OBSERVED)(mrn/hr>

FIG. 6. Verification of (6), India Data

unnecessary. The range of data used in the present analysis is given in

Table 1.

PROCEDURE

First, the general relationship by Chen (1983) was verified using the long-
period data from 20 rainfall stations in India (Fig. 1). This was not found
to produce satisfactory results, so a new relationship was developed. Re-
lationships having the form of (1) were developed using multiple-regression
analysis. Data from 78 stations in India (Fig. 1) were used only for devel-
328

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

3X10 5 7 10' 2 3 5
A OBSERVED <mm/h'>

FIG. 7. Verification of (6), Sri Lanka Data

oping the equations reported herein. Data from the remaining two stations
in India, 19 stations in Sri Lanka (Fig. 2), and five stations in the United
States were used only for the verification of the proposed equation. To
assess the accuracy of the equations reported herein, computed values of
If, using the equation concerned were plotted against its observed values;
and the error (E) was computed as

(/Do (/?)c >mputed

E = 100 (3)
(/Dob

VERIFICATION OF CHEN'S (1983) RELATIONSHIP

Chen (1983) proposed a general rainfall IDF formula for the United
States, which is given as
alf log (lO 2 -*^- 1 )
IJ = (4)
(t + by
in which If — rainfall intensity in in./hr, corresponding to a return period
of T-year and storm duration t-mm; I\° = 10 year, /-hour rainfall intensity;
x = depth frequenty ratio (R)00IR}°)\ anda, andfo, andc = storm parameters
that are dependent on the regional ratio (R\°/Rlf). Chen (1983) also showed

329

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

FIG. 8. Verification of (6), Miami, Fla., Data

that (4) produces results that are more realistic than those given by Bell's
(1969) relationship [i.e., (2)]. Chen also showed that the 10-year, 1 hr rainfall
(R\°) alone cannot measure the geographical variations of rainfall as indi-
cated by (2). Hence, (2) is not considered for verification in the present
investigation.
In Fig. 3, the IJ values computed using (4) are compared with observed
IJ values. Because the preliminary analysis indicated that (4) overpredicts
the rainfall intensity, a multiplying factor 0.77 was obtained by a few trials,
which produced Fig. 3. Eq. (4) gives results with less than ±50% error for
90% of the time when computed values are multiplied by a factor of 0.77.
The value of this factor was not found to vary with geographical locations.
This accuracy of (4) was not considered satisfactory, and a new analysis of
the data was carried out in order to obtain another relationship for the
realistic estimation of rainfall intensity for Indian conditions.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

As a first step, the effect of duration of rainfall and return period on the
intensity of rainfall was studied using the data from 78 stations in India (Fig.
1). The following relationship was obtained for I J:
^•0.20

^ = 40.10-^ (5)

330

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

'{(OBSERVED) ( m m ' h r >

FIG. 9. Verification of (6), New York, M.Y., Data

The multiple correlation coefficient for (5) is 0.90. Eq. (5) was found to
produce results with same accuracy as (4) for data from India. Hence, it
was not considered satisfactory; therefore, the effect of some rainfall prop-
erties on rainfall intensity was considered next.
The rainfall amounts observed during different durations are not inde-
pendent events. The rainfalls observed during consecutive hours are strongly
correlated. These observations can be illustrated with estimates of certain
conditional probabilities. Such observations are often used in the synthesis
of hourly rains to obtain larger duration rains, i.e. aggregation (Pattison
1965), and also in disaggregation of larger duration rains into smaller du-
ration rains (Hershenhorn and Woolisher 1987). A long duration rainfall
event is supposed to cover all short-duration events and is likely to be related
to them in some form or another (Gert et al. 1987). To study the effect of
rainfall properties on short-duration rainfall intensity, four rainfall prop-
erties [viz mean annual rainfall (R), mean of the maximum monthly rainfall
(Rmax), ratio (R/Rmax), and 24 hr, two-year rainfall, R%4] were used. To study
the effect of these rainfall properties on rainfall intensity, the same data
used for developing (5) were used. In Table 2, the equations obtained for
IJ in terms of these are given.
A close study of the relationships given in Table 2 reveals that inclusion
of the rainfall property as selected results in improvement in the accuracy
of relationships for rainfall intensity. The following general relationship
gives the most realistic estimates of rainfall intensity among the relationships
given in Table 2:
331

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

5X10'
't OBSERVED < m , T "hr.)

FIG. 10. Verification of (6), New Orleans, La., Data

TABLE 2. Relationships for Rainfall Intensity

Relationship Multiple correlation coefficient

0) (2)

/, r = 20.65 ^ / P > - » 0.94

TO. 2
IT = 24.45 — R°m£ 0.92

'.^46.80— (-=) 0.92

IT = 8.31 ~ (RI 4 )°« 0.96

•ro.20
(6)

where C = a constant having value equal to 8.31 for the whole of the
considered stations. In (6) IJ is in mm/hr; T is in years, t is in hr, and R^
is in mm. Eq. (6) gives results with less than ±30% error for 95% of the
time (Fig. 4) for data from 78 stations in India.
Next, the dependence of constant C in (6) on geographical locations in
the study area was studied. The study area was divided into five zones, as
332

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

' t OBSERVED ( m m / h r . )

FIG. 11. Verification of (6), Hartford, Conn., Data

shown in Fig. 1. The geographical divisions are directly adopted from Ram
Babu Tejwani et al. (1979).
Use of different values of C in (6) as given in Table 3 for different
geographical regions in India produces results with less than ± 18% error
for these data (see Fig. 5). This accuracy of (6) with values of C as given
in Table 3 was considered satisfactory, particularly because of given esti-
mation, measurement, and cartographic errors in the analysis.

VERIFICATION OF PROPOSED RELATIONSHIP

To verify (6), additional data of two stations, viz Roorkee and Calcutta,
both in India (see Fig. 1), which were not used for establishing (6), were
used. It was found that with values of C given in Table 3 (6) gives results
with less than ±20% error for 90% of time for the independent data from
India (see Fig. 6).
The validity of (6) was also checked using data from Sri Lanka and the
United States. Eq. (6) produces results with less than ±30% error for the
data from Sri Lanka when C = 9.1 is used for all of Sri Lanka (see Fig.
7). Value of C was not found to vary systematically from place to place
within Sri Lanka. Figs. 8-12 compare the If compound using (6) with
observed values of C for Chicago, Hartford, New York, Miami, and New
Orleans. The computations revealed that the use of different values of C
for different stations in (6) (viz C = 6.0 for Chicago; C = 6.0 for Hartford;
333

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 1 1 1 1 ITTT n 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 - •-! 1
5TATION : CH1CAC>0
NOTATIONS
' —177,
,03 / / / -
X t = 1 hr
" / / /
- •^- t = 2 hr // /
* t = 3 hr
- 0 t = 6 hr /
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

D t = 12 h r
jfjf^.
2
» t = 24 hr
10
E O t = 5 min
:
0 t = 10 m i n
A t = 15 m i n

- + t = 30 m i n /J?y WINE OF AGREEMENT

c = 6-0
/ A y

10'
-
W/ ;
Jv/ V- ± 25°/o ERROR LINES
-
„

10° / 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1111 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1

10"
h r )
'{(OBSERVED) <™'

FIG. 12. Verification of (6), Chicago, III., Data

TABLE 3. Values of Constant C [(6)] in Different Geographical Regions of India

Geographical region Zone in Fig. 1 Value of C
(1) (2) (3)
Northern India 1 8.0
Eastern India 4 9.1
Central India 2 7.7
Western India 3 8.3
Southern India 5 7.1

C = 6.0 for New York; C = 8.94 for Miami; and C = 8.97 for New Orleans)
produces more accurate results. With different value of C for these five
stations in the United States, (6) produces results with a maximum error of
±25% for 95% of time (see Figs. 8-12). Figs. 8-12 also leveal that for a
given station C may be different when f «£ 10 min. This reveals that inclusion
of the term R\A in (6) alone cannot represent all the factors affecting If.
However, sufficient data were not available from the United States with
which to study the variation in values of C with duration and geographical
location.

CONCLUSIONS

The comparison of (6) with the existing IDF relationships as given in

Chow (1964), Raudkivi (1979), Gert et al. (1987), Chen (1983), and Har-
334

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 greaves (1988) reveals that the values of exponent of variables t and T do
not vary much from place to place. However, an IDF relationship having
variables t and T alone cannot represent all the factors affecting If for 0 <
?(hours) ss 24. The term R\± describes some of the variation in IJ values.
Verification of Chen's equation (4) using data from India reveals that this
equation cannot be used for obtaining more reasonable estimates of rainfall
intensity in India than the finally developed one. Use of data from 78 rain-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

gage stations spread over India was made to establish a general rainfall IDF
relationship for India. This relationship, which is given by (6) with the values
of C as given in Table 3, produces realistic estimates of rainfall intensity in
India. The correctness of the form of (6) is ascertained by verifying it using
the limited data from Sri Lanka and the United States.
Use of (6) for the limited data from Sri Lanka and the United States
indicated that this equation can produce realistic estimates of rainfall in-
tensity if an appropriate value of constant C is known. The value of constant
C may also vary with the duration of rainfall. With values of C given in
Table 3 (6) can be used in India for estimation of rainfall intensity for design
proposes.

APPENDIX I. REFERENCES

Ayyar, P. S. H., and Tripathi, N. (1973). "One day rainfall of India for different
return period." No. 5, India Met. Dept., New Delhi, India.
Ayyar, P. S. H., and Tripathi, N. (1974). "Rainfall frequency maps of India." No.
6, India Met. Dept., New Delhi, India.
Baghirathan, V. R., and Shaw, E. M. (1978). "Rainfall depth-duration-frequency
studies for Sri Lanka." J. of Hydrol., 37(3), 223-239.
Bernard, M. M. (1932). "Formulas for rainfall intensities of long durations." Trans.
ASCE, Vol. 96, 592-624.
Bell, F. C. (1969). "Generalized rainfall-duration-frequency relationships."/. Hydr.
Engrg., ASCE, 95(1), 311-327.
Chow, V. T. (1964). Handbook of applied hydrology. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York, N.Y.
Chen, C. L. (1983). "Rainfall intensity-duration-frequency formulas."/. Hydr. Engrg.,
ASCE, 109(12), 1603-1621.
Dhar, O. N., and Kulkarni, A. K. (1971). "A study of maximum one hour rainfall
at some selected stations in south India." 7th Symp. on Water Resour., Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, A4:l-A4:10.
Ferreri, G. B., and Ferro, V. (1990). "Short-duration rainfalls in Sicily." /. Hydr.
Engrg., ASCE, 116(3), 430-435.
Gert, A., Wall, D. I., White, E. L., and Dunn, C. N. (1987). "Regional rainfall
intensity-duration-frequency curves for Pennsylvania." Water Resour. Bulletin, 23(3),
479-486.
Garde, R. J., and Kothyari, U. C. (1990). "Flood estimation in Indian catchments."
/. of Hydrol., 113(4), 135-146.
Hargreaves, G. H. (1988). "Extreme rainfall for Africa and other developing areas."
/. Irrig. and Drain. Engrg., ASCE, 114(2), 324-333.
Hershfield, D. M., and Wilson, W. T. (1968). "A comparison of extreme rainfall
depths from tropical and nontropical storms." /. Geophysical Res., 65(3), 959-
982.
Hershenhorn, J., and Woolhiser, D. A. (1987). "Desagragation of daily rainfalls."
/. Hydrol., 95(3/4), 299-322.
Pattison, A. (1965). "Synthesis of hourly rainfalls." Water Resour. Res., 1(4), 489-
498.
Ram Babu Tejwani, K. K., Agarwal, M. C , and Bhushan, L. S. (1979). Rainfall
intensity-duration-return period equations and nomographs of India. CS & WCRII,
Indian Council for Agri. Res., (ICAR), Dehradun, India.

335

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.

 Rainfall atlas of India. (1971). India Meteorological Department, Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, India.
Raman, V., and Bandhopadhyay, M. (1969). "Frequency analysis of rainfall in-
tensities for Calcutta." /. Sanit. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 95(6), 1013-1030.
Rao, D. V. L. N., Goyal, S. C , and Kathuria, S. N. (1983). "Interpolation of short
duration rainfall from 24-hrs. rainfall in Lower Godavari Basin." Mausam, J.
Meteorological Society, New Delhi, India, 34(3), 291-298.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 05/18/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Raudkivi, A. J. (1979). "An advance introduction to hydrological processes and

modelling." Oxford Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y.
Verma, S. K. (1988). "Rainfall intensity-duration-frequency analysis," thesis pre-
sented to the University, of Roorkee, at Roorkee, India, in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering.

APPENDIX II. NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

a = storm parameter;
ao.a! ,a 2 = constants;
b = storm parameter;
C = regional constant;
c = storm parameter;
T[ = rainfall intensity having duration t and return period T
(mm/hr);
R = mean annual rainfall (mm);
•Rmax = maximum mean monthly rainfall (mm);
RT = T-year, f-hour rainfall depth (mm/hr);
T = return period (years);
/ = storm duration (min/hr); and
x = depth frequency ratio.

336

J. Hydraul. Eng. 1992.118:323-336.