Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016DC182B

Analysis of External and Internal Storm Event Characteristics for Washington DC based on different IETDs

Institute: District of Columbia
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $16,640

Principal Investigators: Pradeep Behera

Abstract: The planning, analysis, design, operation and maintenance of urban storm water management (SWM) systems is primarily governed by local meteorology which is random in nature. The local input meteorology is represented by measurable parameter, precipitation and its associated frequency. The design of different elements of SWM systems requires utilization of different precipitation characteristics such as conveyance of stormwater (transportation elements) is a function of rainfall intensity whereas storage of stormwater volumes is a function of rainfall volume. In order to better understand the local precipitation, this research presents an analysis of external and internal storm event characteristics for Washington DC. The long-term hourly data from a number of stations within and nearby stations will be collected and a storm event analysis will be conducted at each of the stations. The storm event analysis will be conducted based on the inter-event time definition (IETD). The time series of storm events for different IETDs will be analyzed to obtain (i) characteristics of storm events with high and low rainfall volumes, (ii) characteristics of storm events with large durations, (iii) characteristics of consecutive storm events, (iv) internal characteristics of large storm events, (v) relationships between event volume magnitudes and theirs frequencies. The results of such analysis are very useful for planners and engineers in understanding the local meteorology and provide insights to design the new SWM systems and to manage the existing SWM systems efficiently. The understanding of external and internal storm events characteristics is specifically critical for highly urbanized areas such as Washington DC where small storm events becomes runoff events because of high imperviousness.