A STOCHASTIC-MODEL OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION IN TIME AT A RAIN-GAGE SITE

Hyetographs of extreme convective precipitation are modeled in terms of a marked finite point process of convective cell arrivals, each point or occurrence in time representing the birth of a cell. Rain intensity resulting from the activity of each of these cells is assumed to have a gamma-type function shape with peak intensity and volume being random variables. The model has been tested with data from maximum storms during the period 1940-1985 at two sites on the Mediterranean coast of Spain: Valencia and Alicante. The proposed temporal structure shows good agreement with the observed series at the smaller scales (increments of 10 min), and the most characteristic temporal patterns in internal structure of precipitation are adequately described. Simple generation algorithms according to the presented formulation allow generation of synthetic series. © 1990.