Utilizing non-stationary extreme value model to quantify extreme rainfall in two major cities in Bangladesh.

Abstract

Bangladesh is highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change, particularly extreme rainfall during the monsoon season, leading to severe floods and landslides. This study introduces a nonstationary generalized extreme value (GEV) modeling framework, which integrates atmospheric dry bulb temperatures as a covariate to capture the seasonal and dynamic characteristics of extreme rainfall events. Using daily rainfall and temperature data from Dhaka (1990-2015) and Chattogram (1999-2015), the study identifies optimal models based on AIC, BIC, and goodness-of-fit criteria. Uncertainties in the predictions are quantified using the delta method and parametric bootstrap approaches. The results indicate a higher likelihood of extreme rainfall events in Chattogram compared to Dhaka, as reflected in the predictions and probabilities in return levels. Diagnostic evaluations confirm that the models effectively capture the variability in monthly maximum rainfall during the monsoon. These findings offer valuable information for flood risk management, urban planning, and disaster preparedness. By incorporating temperature effects and quantifying prediction uncertainties, the study addresses key limitations in existing methodologies. Future work will expand this framework to assess spatiotemporal rainfall variability in Bangladesh and explore advanced machine learning approaches to simultaneously model the bulk and tail of rainfall distributions.