The Role of Snowmelt Temporal Pattern in Flood Estimation for A Small Snow-Dominated Basin in the Sierra Nevada

Abstract

Standard rainfall hyetographs substantially underestimate floods in a small snow-dominated basin in the Sierra Nevada• Snowmelt hyetograph shows a more rapid rise (i.e., higher intensity) compared to the standard rainfall hyetographs used in hydrologic design• A general method to develop probabilistic hyetographs that represent the underling floodgeneration mechanism is described