Abstract
This article describes the construction and the applications of a model to generate hourlyrainfall hyetographs. It was developed as a tool for estimating design floods on a small catchmentby converting long series of rainfall data (1000 yr) into runoff by means of an appropriate transferfunction model. Its performance is assessed through frequency analysis of 1-, 2-, .... 24-hmaximum rainfalls. The means and standard deviations of the simulated maximum rainfalldistributions are in the same order of magnitude as the values estimated from observed data.Simulated extreme values are distinctly greater than those obtained by extrapolation of theobserved series with a simple exponential probability function. The geographical extension of themodel is encouraging, as shown by results from three rainfall recorders at three sites on theMediterranean seaboard displaying different rainfall patterns.