Author(s): Ana I. Requena; Antonio Jimenez-Alvarez; Celia Garcia
Linked Author(s): Antonio Jiménez
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Floods are defined by variables such as peak and volume, being relevant to jointly consider them for assessing hydrological dam safety. This study assesses deterministic and probabilistic methods to characterise floods by comparing the maximum water level reached at the reservoir for a given return period. A Spanish case study with reservoir configurations synthetically generated from real reservoirs is used in the assessment. The study examines annual and seasonal flood frequency analysis. The former is performed considering a routing method with and without spillway gates; the latter does not consider spillway gates and accounts for fixed and random initial water levels at the reservoir. Results confirm that deterministic methods provide greater maximum water levels than probabilistic methods, and that annual flood frequency analysis provides greater maximum water levels than seasonal flood frequency analysis accounting for seasonal variability in the initial water level at the reservoir. As a result of the study, recommendations are provided for the application of the studied methods in practice, which are included in a national handbook to help assess hydrological dam safety in Spain.
Year: 2024