Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4483-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4483-2016
Research article
 | 
08 Nov 2016
Research article |  | 08 Nov 2016

Constraining frequency–magnitude–area relationships for rainfall and flood discharges using radar-derived precipitation estimates: example applications in the Upper and Lower Colorado River basins, USA

Caitlin A. Orem and Jon D. Pelletier

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Cited articles

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Burton Jr., G. A. and Pitt, R. E. (Eds.): Stormwater effects handbook: a toolbox for watershed managers, scientists, and engineers, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, 2001.
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We present a new method that incorporates flood-envelope-curve methods, radar-derived precipitation data, and flow-routing algorithms to calculate frequency-magnitude-area curves (FMAC). Our results show that flood discharges increase as a power-law function for small contributing areas, but start to increase more slowly at higher contributing areas. We find that our FMACs have similar and/or higher flood discharges than published flood-envelope curves for the same areas.