Serinaldi, FrancescoFrancescoSerinaldiGrimaldi, SalvatoreSalvatoreGrimaldi2026-03-182026-03-182011-05-09Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 16 (5): 434-446 (2011)https://hdl.handle.net/11420/62204The primary characteristics that influence the potential of defining a synthetic design hydrograph (SDH), are the hydrograph shape, peak discharge (Q<inf>p</inf>), volume (V), and duration (D). This paper studies the advantages and shortcomings of using simple distribution functions with finite support (namely, beta and generalized standard two-sided power distributions) to represent and synthesize direct runoff hydrographs. The relationships among Q<inf>p</inf>, V, D, and distribution parameters are explored on a few flood events selected by a recursive digital filter algorithm and an overthreshold approach. The results obtained indicate that the adopted procedure provides a good compromise between simplicity and accuracy for building SDHs with two assigned flood characteristics (e.g., Q<inf>p</inf> and V) and a defined shape. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.en1943-558420115434446ASCEBaseflow separation.Design hydrographDistributions with finite supportFlood frequency analysisNatural Sciences and Mathematics::551: Geology, Hydrology MeteorologyJournal Article10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000339Journal Article