Scaling from process timescales to daily time steps: A distribution function approach

Abstract

A new temporal scaling method applicable to many rainfall-runoff-erosion models is presented. The method is based on the probability distribution approach used in a number of spatial hydrological models, and it uses statistical distributions of rainfall intensity to represent subdaily intensity variations in a daily time step model. This allows the effect of short timescale nonlinear processes to be captured while modeling at a daily time step, which is often attractive due to the wide availability of total daily rainfall data. The approach relies on characterizing the rainfall intensity variation within a day using a probability distribution function (pdf). This pdf is then modified by vari..