Regional flood frequency analysis of the lower west Mediterranean subregion of turkey with L-moments

Abstract

In this study, a regional frequency analysis of the annual maximum series of flood data observed at 21 gauged sites in the lower west Mediterranean river basin, Turkey has been carried out using the index flood L-moments method. Based on the analysis, the lower west Mediterranean river basin is shown to be possibly heterogeneous, and Pearson Type III distribution is found to be the most accurate way to describe the distribution of the floods within this sub-region. For estimation of floods of various return periods for ungauged catchments of the sub-region, a regional flood frequency relationship has been developed using the L-moments based on the Pearson Type III distribution. The results are evaluated on the basis of relative root mean square error, and relative bias through the use of the Monte Carlo simulation. © by PSP 2008.