A COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR MAPPING STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE FRENCH ALPS : THE USE OF DAILY INFORMATION

Various methods for mapping heavy rainfall(10-year and 100-year rainfall) at time steps between 1 and 24h are compared. These methods are applied to the French Alps, a montainous region subject to heavy rainfall. Data are ob-tained not only from recording raingauges but also from abundant daily raingauges. Among the methods reviewed kri-ging is based only on the interpolation of recording rain-gauge data. Other methods tested make use of additionnal informations obtained from daily measurements, including relationships between rainfall and topography.