• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.365-374
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• 2009

Probability plotting positions are used for the graphical display of annual maximum rainfall or flood series and the estimation of exceedance probability of those values. In addition, plotting positions allow a visual examination of the fitness of probability distribution provided by frequency analysis for a given data. Therefore, the graphical approach using plotting position has been applied to many fields of hydrology and water resources planning. In this study, the plotting position formula for the Gumbel distribution is derived by using the order statistics and the probability weight moment of the Gumbel distribution for various sample sizes. And then, the parameters of plotting position formula for the Gumbel distribution are estimated by using genetic algorithm. The appropriate plotting position formulas for the Gumbel distribution are examined by the comparison of root mean square errors and biases between theoretical reduced Gumbel variates and those calculated from derived and existing plotting position formulas. As the results, Gringorten's plotting position formula has the smaller root mean square errors and biases than any other formulas.