Reconstructing IDF curves from daily rainfall records in data-scarce regions: A statistical method based on temporal disaggregation and gumbel modeling

Jay Molino, Humberto Martí-Fis and Yakelin Rodriguez-López

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: Urban regions in the tropics often face challenges in hydrological design due to the lack of high-resolution rainfall data. This study presents a method for generating intensity, duration, frequency (IDF) curves using only daily rainfall records, applied to the case of Habana del Este, Cuba. Daily maximum rainfall data from eight pluviometric stations (2010–2024) were combined with subdaily observations from a reference pluviograph. Two strategies were used: direct integration for compatible stations and temporal disaggregation for incompatible ones. Rainfall intensities for return periods between 2 and 1000 years were estimated using Gumbel frequency analysis and fitted to the Sherman model through nonlinear regression. The resulting IDF curves were unified into a single regional model using a weighted average of rainfall intensities from the compatible and disaggregated station groups, followed by final Sherman model fitting. The main contribution of this study is an integrated reconstruction framework that links station compatibility screening, selective use of observed subdaily rainfall structure, disaggregation of non-compatible daily records, and weighted regional unification within a single reproducible workflow. The final curves showed excellent agreement across durations and return levels (R2 > 0.998), with strong internal consistency between estimation methods. Validation using linear and log log plots confirmed the robustness of the approach. This method provides a practical and statistically sound solution for IDF curve development in data scarce tropical regions, offering direct support for infrastructure planning, hydraulic design, and climate resilience where subdaily rainfall observations are limited.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0351841

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0351841

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