Estimation of IDF Curves of Extreme Rainfall by Simple Scaling in Northern Oueme Valley, Benin Republic (West Africa)

Rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves are of particular importance in water resources management, for example, in urban hydrology, for the design of hydraulic structures and the estimation of the flash flood risk in small catchments. IDF curves describe rainfall intensity as a function of duration and return period, and they are significant for water resources planning, as well as for the design of hydraulic constructions and structures. In this study, scaling properties of extreme rainfall are examined to establish the scaling behavior of statistical non-central moment over different durations. IDF curves and equations are set up for all stations by using the parameter obtained from scaling behavior, the location and scale parameters mu 24 and sigma 24 of the Gumbel distribution (EVI) sample of annual maximum 1440 min rainfall data. In another hand, we have established the IDF curves for ten selected rain gauge stations in the Northern (Oueme Valley) parts of Benin Republic, West Africa by using the simple scaling approach. Analysis of rainfall intensities (5 min and 1440 min rainfall data) from the ten rainfall stations shows that rainfall in north-Benin displays scales invariance property from 5 min to 1440 min. For time scaling, the statistical properties of rainfall follow the hypothesis of simple scaling. Therefore, the simple scaling model applies to the rainfall in (Oueme Valley). Hence, the simple scaling model is thought to be a viable approach to estimate IDF curves of hourly and sub-hourly rainfall form rainfall projections. The obtained scaling exponents are less than 1 and range from 0.23 to 0.59. The empirical model shows that the scaling procedure is a good estimator as it is more efficient and gives more accurate estimates compared with the observed rainfall than the traditional method which only consists the Gumbel model in all stations for lower return periods (T<5 years) but not for higher return periods.