An investigation into design inputs for design flood estimation in New South Wales

Melanie Loveridge, Ataur Rahman, Dharma Hagare

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperConference Paperpeer-review

    Abstract

    ![CDATA[In rainfall-based flood estimation, several inputs are required to convert design rainfalls to design floods, including the critical storm duration, areal reduction factor, storm spatial & temporal patterns, losses, model parameters and baseflow. Each input has an associated degree of uncertainty, which can affect the shape and magnitude of the estimated design flood hydrograph. This paper evaluates the effects of these design inputs on the resulting design peak flows, which are compared with more reliable flood frequency estimates. A total of 37 complete storm events were selected for the Orara River catchment in Northern NSW. It was found that the IL-CL model produced more accurate design flood estimates than the IL-PL model. Variations in the selected temporal patterns were seen to have a significant effect on the design flood estimates, whilst variations in the areal reduction factor and RORB model parameter had a much smaller effect on design flood estimates. Overall this study has found that the assumption of ARI neutrality in the current design event approach can lead to significant uncertainties in design flood estimates due to the inherent difficulty in the selection of representative inputs.]]
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication2012 Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium : 19-22 November 2012, Dockside, Cockle Bay, Sydney, NSW Australia
    PublisherEngineers Australia
    Pages792-799
    Number of pages8
    ISBN (Print)9781922107626
    Publication statusPublished - 2012
    EventHydrology and Water Resources Symposium -
    Duration: 19 Nov 2012 → …

    Conference

    ConferenceHydrology and Water Resources Symposium
    Period19/11/12 → …

    Keywords

    • New South Wales
    • computer simulation
    • flood forecasting

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