Introduction

Vijay P. Singh; Lan Zhang

doi:10.1017/9781009025317.002

1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 April 2022

Vijay P. Singh and

Lan Zhang

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Vijay P. Singh: Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Lan Zhang: Affiliation:
University of Akron, Ohio

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Summary

Several generalized frequency distributions have been employed in environmental and water engineering over the years. These distributions are quite versatile and can apply to frequency analysis of a wide variety of random variables, such as flood peaks, volume, duration, and inter-arrival time; extreme rainfall amount, duration, spatial coverage, and inter-arrival time; drought duration, severity, spatial extent, and inter-arrival time; wind speed, duration, direction, and spatial coverage; water quality parameters; and sediment concentration, discharge, and yield. However, because of their relatively complex form, these distributions have not become as popular as the simpler distributions. These distributions have at least three but usually more parameters, which have been estimated using the methods of moments, maximum likelihood, probability weighted moments, and L-moments. In some cases, entropy theory has been used to estimate parameters. This chapter provides a snapshot of the generalized distributions that will be discussed in this book. Moreover, a short discussion of the methods of parameter estimation, goodness-of-fit statistics, and confidence intervals is provided.

Keywords

distributions method of moment maximum likelihood probability weighted moment L-moment

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Type: Chapter
Information: Generalized Frequency Distributions for Environmental and Water Engineering , pp. 1 - 49

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009025317.002 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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