TY - JOUR A1 - Soares Pereira, Francisco Jairo A1 - Gomes Costa, Carlos Alexandre A1 - Förster, Saskia A1 - Brosinsky, Arlena A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos T1 - Estimation of suspended sediment concentration in an intermittent river using multi-temporal high-resolution satellite imagery JF - International journal of applied earth observation and geoinformation N2 - There is a shortage of sediment-routing monitoring worldwide, despite its relevance to environmental processes. In drylands, where water resources are more vulnerable to the sediment dynamics, this flaw is even more harmful. In the semi-arid Caatinga biome in the North-east of Brazil, rivers are almost all intermittent and hydro-sedimentological monitoring is scarce. In the biome, water supply derives from thousands of surface reservoirs, whose water availability is liable to be reduced by siltation and sediment-related pollution. The goal of this research was to evaluate the potential of multi-temporal high-resolution satellite imagery (RapidEye) to assess the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in the medium-sized intermittent Jaguaribe River, Brazil, during a 5-year period. We validated 15 one-, two- and three-band indices for SSC estimation based on RapidEye spectral bands deduced in the context of the present investigation and nine indices proposed in the literature for other optical sensors, by comparing them with in-situ concentration data. The in-situ SSC data ranged from 67 mg.L-1 to 230 mg.L-1. We concluded that RapidEye images can assess moderate SSC of intermittent rivers, even when their discharge is low. The RapidEye indices performed better than those from literature. The spectral band that best represented SSC was the near infrared, whose performance improved when associated with the green band. This conclusion agrees with literature findings for diverse sedimentological contexts. The three-band spectral indices performed worse than those with only one or two spectral bands, showing that the use of a third band did not enhance the model ability. Besides, we show that the hydrological characteristics of semi-arid intermittent rivers generate difficulties to monitor SSC using optical satellite remote sensing, such as time-concentrated sediment yield; and its association with recent rainfall events and, therefore, with cloudy sky. KW - Remote sensing KW - Sediment load KW - Dryland KW - Brazil Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2019.02.009 SN - 0303-2434 VL - 79 SP - 153 EP - 161 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Coelho, Christine A1 - Heim, Birgit A1 - Förster, Saskia A1 - Brosinsky, Arlena A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos T1 - In Situ and Satellite Observation of CDOM and Chlorophyll-a Dynamics in Small Water Surface Reservoirs in the Brazilian Semiarid Region JF - Water N2 - We analyzed chlorophyll-a and Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) dynamics from field measurements and assessed the potential of multispectral satellite data for retrieving water-quality parameters in three small surface reservoirs in the Brazilian semiarid region. More specifically, this work is comprised of: (i) analysis of Chl-a and trophic dynamics; (ii) characterization of CDOM; (iii) estimation of Chl-a and CDOM from OLI/Landsat-8 and RapidEye imagery. The monitoring lasted 20 months within a multi-year drought, which contributed to water-quality deterioration. Chl-a and trophic state analysis showed a highly eutrophic status for the perennial reservoir during the entire study period, while the non-perennial reservoirs ranged from oligotrophic to eutrophic, with changes associated with the first events of the rainy season. CDOM characterization suggests that the perennial reservoir is mostly influenced by autochthonous sources, while allochthonous sources dominate the non-perennial ones. Spectral-group classification assigned the perennial reservoir as a CDOM-moderate and highly eutrophic reservoir, whereas the non-perennial ones were assigned as CDOM-rich and oligotrophic-dystrophic reservoirs. The remote sensing initiative was partially successful: the Chl-a was best modelled using RapidEye for the perennial one; whereas CDOM performed best with Landsat-8 for non-perennial reservoirs. This investigation showed potential for retrieving water quality parameters in dry areas with small reservoirs. KW - water quality KW - eutrophication KW - tropic state index KW - Landsat-8 KW - RapidEye KW - tropical inland water bodies KW - Brazil Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/w9120913 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 9 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - A method to assess hydrological drought in semi-arid environments and its application to the Jaguaribe River basin, Brazil JF - Water International N2 - This manuscript proposes a method to assess hydrological drought in semi-arid environments under high impoundment rate and applies it to the semi-arid Jaguaribe River basin in Brazil. It analyzes droughts (1) in the largest reservoir systems; (2) in the Upper Basin, considering 4744 reservoirs, 800 wells and almost 18,000 cisterns; and (3) in reservoirs of different sizes during multiyear droughts. Results show that the water demand is constrained in the basin; hydrological and meteorological droughts are often out of phase; there is a negative correlation between storage level and drought severity; and the small systems cannot cope with long-term droughts. KW - Reservoirs KW - Brazil KW - multiyear drought KW - water management KW - impoundment rate KW - water demand Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2015.1113077 SN - 0250-8060 SN - 1941-1707 VL - 41 SP - 213 EP - 230 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Mamede, George Leite A1 - Creutzfeldt, Benjamin A1 - Guentner, Andreas A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Connectivity of sediment transport in a semiarid environment: a synthesis for the Upper Jaguaribe Basin, Brazil JF - Journal of soils and sediments : protection, risk assessment and remediation N2 - Hydrosedimentological studies conducted in the semiarid Upper Jaguaribe Basin, Brazil, enabled the identification of the key processes controlling sediment connectivity at different spatial scales (10(0)-10(4) km(2)). Water and sediment fluxes were assessed from discharge, sediment concentrations and reservoir siltation measurements. Additionally, mathematical modelling (WASA-SED model) was used to quantify water and sediment transfer within the watershed. Rainfall erosivity in the study area was moderate (4600 MJ mm ha(-1) h(-1) year(-1)), whereas runoff depths (16-60 mm year(-1)), and therefore the sediment transport capacity, were low. Consequently, similar to 60 % of the eroded sediment was deposited along the landscape, regardless of the spatial scale. The existing high-density reservoir network (contributing area of 6 km(2) per reservoir) also limits sediment propagation, retaining up to 47 % of the sediment at the large basin scale. The sediment delivery ratio (SDR) decreased with the spatial scale; on average, 41 % of the eroded sediment was yielded from the hillslopes, while for the whole 24,600-km(2) basin, the SDR was reduced to 1 % downstream of a large reservoir (1940-hm(3) capacity). Hydrological behaviour in the Upper Jaguaribe Basin represents a constraint on sediment propagation; low runoff depth is the main feature breaking sediment connectivity, which limits sediment transference from the hillslopes to the drainage system. Surface reservoirs are also important barriers, but their relative importance to sediment retention increases with scale, since larger contributing areas are more suitable for the construction of dams due to higher hydrological potential. KW - Brazil KW - Connectivity KW - Sediment redistribution KW - Semiarid KW - Spatial scale Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0988-z SN - 1439-0108 SN - 1614-7480 VL - 14 IS - 12 SP - 1938 EP - 1948 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER -