TY - JOUR A1 - Barbosa, Luis Romero A1 - Almeida, Cristiano das Neves A1 - Rabelo Coelho, Victor Hugo A1 - Freitas, Emerson da Silva A1 - Galvao, Carlos de Oliveira A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos T1 - Sub-hourly rainfall patterns by hyetograph type under distinct climate conditions in Northeast of Brazil BT - a comparative inference of their key properties BT - uma inferência comparativa das suas principais propriedades JF - RBRH Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos Brazilian Journal of Water Resources N2 - The lack of process-based classification procedures may lead to unrealistic hyetograph design due to complex oscillation of rainfall depths when assimilated at high temporal resolutions. Four consecutive years of sub-hourly rainfall data were assimilated in three study areas (Guaraira, GEB, Sao Joao do Cariri, CEB, and Aiuaba, AEB) under distinct climates (very hot semi-arid and tropical wet). This study aimed to define rainfall events (for Minimum Inter-event Time, MIT, and Minimum Rainfall Depth, MRD, equal to 30 min and 1.016 mm, respectively), classify their hyetograph types (rectangular, R, unimodal with left-skewed, UL, right-skewed, UR, and centred peaks, UC, bimodal, B, and shapeless, SL), and compare their key rainfall properties (frequency, duration, depth, rate and peak). A rain pulse aggregation process allowed for reshaping SL-events for six different time spans varying from 2 to 30 min. The results revealed that the coastal area held predominantly R-events (64% events and 49% rainfall depth), in western semi-arid prevailed UL-events (57% events and 63% rainfall depth), whereas in eastern semi-arid mostly were R-events (61% events and 30% rainfall depth) similar to coastal area. It is concluded that each cloud formation type had important effects on hyetograph properties, differentiating them even within the same climate. N2 - A falta de procedimentos de classificação baseados em processos pode levar a uma projeção irreal de hietogramas devido à complexa oscilação das lâminas precipitadas quando assimiladas em altas resoluções temporais. Quatro anos consecutivos de dados pluviográficos sub-horários foram assimilados em três áreas de estudo (Guaraíra, GEB, São João do Cariri, CEB, e Aiuaba, AEB) sob climas distintos (semiárido muito quente e tropical úmido). O objetivo deste estudo foi definir os eventos chuvosos (para Tempo Mínimo entre Eventos, MIT, e Altura Mínima de Precipitação, MRD, iguais a 30 min e 1.016 mm, respectivamente), classificar seus tipos de hietograma (retangular, R, unimodal com pico oblíquo à esquerda, UL, oblíquo à direita, UR, e centrado, UC, bimodal, B, e disforme, SL), e comparar suas principais propriedades de precipitação (frequência, duração, altura, taxa e pico). Um processo de agregação de pulsos de precipitação permitiu remodelar os eventos SL para seis períodos de tempo variando de 2 a 30 min. Os resultados revelaram que a área costeira possuía predominantemente eventos R (64% de eventos e 49% de lâmina precipitada), no semiárido ocidental prevaleceram os eventos UL (57% de eventos e 63% de lâmina precipitada), enquanto no semiárido oriental a maioria foram os eventos R (61% de eventos e 30% de lâmina precipitada) semelhante à área costeira. Conclui-se que cada tipo de formação de nuvens teve efeitos importantes sobre as propriedades dos hietogramas, diferenciando-os até dentro do mesmo clima. T2 - Padrões sub-horários da precipitação por tipo de hietograma em condições climáticas distintas no Nordeste do Brasil KW - Rainfall event KW - MIT KW - MRD KW - Hyetograph classification KW - Northeast of Brazil Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0331.231820180076 SN - 1414-381X SN - 2318-0331 VL - 23 PB - Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos CY - Porto Alegre ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Figueiredo, Jose Vidal A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - Costa, Alexandre C. T1 - Runoff initiation in a preserved semiarid Caatinga small watershed, Northeastern Brazil JF - Hydrological processes N2 - This study analyses some hydrological driving forces and their interrelation with surface-flow initiation in a semiarid Caatinga basin (12km(2)), Northeastern Brazil. During the analysis period (2005 - 2014), 118 events with precipitation higher than 10mm were monitored, providing 45 events with runoff, 25 with negligible runoff and 49 without runoff. To verify the dominant processes, 179 on-site measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) were conducted. The results showed that annual runoff coefficient lay below 0.5% and discharge at the outlet has only occurred four days per annum on average, providing an insight to the surface-water scarcity of the Caatinga biome. The most relevant variables to explain runoff initiation were total precipitation and maximum 60-min rainfall intensity (I-60). Runoff always occurred when rainfall surpassed 31mm, but it never occurred for rainfall below 14mm or for I-60 below 12mmh(-1). The fact that the duration of the critical intensity is similar to the basin concentration time (65min) and that the infiltration threshold value approaches the river-bank saturated hydraulic conductivity support the assumption that Hortonian runoff prevails. However, none of the analysed variables (total or precedent precipitation, soil moisture content, rainfall intensities or rainfall duration) has been able to explain the runoff initiation in all monitored events: the best criteria, e.g. failed to explain 27% of the events. It is possible that surface-flow initiation in the Caatinga biome is strongly influenced by the root-system dynamics, which changes macro-porosity status and, therefore, initial abstraction. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KW - hydraulic conductivity KW - soil moisture KW - root system KW - semi-arid KW - Caatinga KW - connectivity Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10801 SN - 0885-6087 SN - 1099-1085 VL - 30 SP - 2390 EP - 2400 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mamede, George Leite A1 - Guentner, Andreas A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Modeling the Effect of Multiple Reservoirs on Water and Sediment Dynamics in a Semiarid Catchment in Brazil JF - Journal of Hydrologic Engineering N2 - Taking into account the climatic conditions of the semiarid region of Brazil, with its intermittent rivers and long periods of water scarcity, a dense network of surface reservoirs (on average one dam every 5 km(2)) of very different sizes has been built. The impact of such a network on water and sediment dynamics constitutes a remarkable challenge for hydrologists. The main objective of this work is to present a novel way of simulating water and sediment fluxes through such high-density reservoir networks, which enables the assessment of water and sediment retention in those structures. The new reservoir modeling approach has been coupled with the fully process-oriented and semidistributed hydrological WASA-SED model, which was tailored for semiarid hydroclimatological characteristics. This integrated modeling system was applied to the 933-km(2) Bengue catchment, located in semiarid northeastern Brazil, which has a network of 114 reservoirs with a wide range of surface areas (from 0.003 to 350 ha). The small reservoirs were grouped into size classes according to their storage capacity and a cascade routing scheme was applied to describe the upstream-downstream position of the classes; the large reservoirs were handled explicitly in the reservoir modeling approach. According to the model results, the proposed approach is capable of representing the water and sediment fluxes though the entire reservoir network with reasonable accuracy. In addition, the model shows that the dynamics of water and sediment within the Bengue catchment are strongly impacted by the presence of multiple reservoirs, which are able to retain approximately 21% of the generated runoff and almost 42% of the sediment yield of the catchment for the simulation period, from 2000 to 2012. (C) 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers. KW - Reservoir network KW - Semiarid catchment KW - Sediment retention KW - Water storage dynamic Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001701 SN - 1084-0699 SN - 1943-5584 VL - 23 IS - 12 PB - American Society of Civil Engineers CY - Reston ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Interception measurements and assessment of Gash model performance for a tropical semi-arid region N2 - Semi-arid environments usually face water scarcity and conflicts for its use; therefore a complete understanding of the water balance in these regions is desired. To evaluate interception, measurements of precipitation, throughfall and stemflow were carried out in a Brazilian tropical semi-arid experimental watershed with well preserved Caatinga vegetation. Data analysis indicates that interception losses correspond to 13% of total rainfall, representing an important process in the watershed's water balance, where runoff is only 6% of total precipitation. Gash interception model was applied in the region with good results for long term simulation. Nevertheless, the model produced significant but not systematic errors on a daily basis. This was attributed to its incapability of representing the temporal variation of precipitation during the event, which is a major factor affecting interception. Rainfall intensity was shown to be a good parameter to determine an applicability threshold for Gash model in the study area. Y1 - 2009 SN - 0045-6888 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 - 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 - 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Costa, Alexandre Cunha A1 - Förster, Saskia A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Analysis of channel transmission losses in a dryland river reach in north-eastern Brazil using streamflow series, groundwater level series and multi-temporal satellite data JF - Hydrological processes N2 - Scarcity of hydrological data, especially streamflow discharge and groundwater level series, restricts the understanding of channel transmission losses (TL) in drylands. Furthermore, the lack of information on spatial river dynamics encompasses high uncertainty on TL analysis in large rivers. The objective of this study was to combine the information from streamflow and groundwater level series with multi-temporal satellite data to derive a hydrological concept of TL for a reach of the Middle Jaguaribe River (MJR) in semi-arid north-eastern Brazil. Based on this analysis, we proposed strategies for its modelling and simulation. TL take place in an alluvium, where river and groundwater can be considered to be hydraulically connected. Most losses certainly infiltrated only through streambed and levees and not through the flood plains, as could be shown by satellite image analysis. TL events whose input river flows were smaller than a threshold did not reach the outlet of the MJR. TL events whose input flows were higher than this threshold reached the outlet losing on average 30% of their input. During the dry seasons (DS) and at the beginning of rainy seasons (DS/BRS), no river flow is expected for pre-events, and events have vertical infiltration into the alluvium. At the middle and the end of the rainy seasons (MRS/ERS), river flow sustained by base flow occurs before/after events, and lateral infiltration into the alluvium plays a major role. Thus, the MJR shifts from being a losing river at DS/BRS to become a losing/gaining (mostly losing) river at MRS/ERS. A model of this system has to include the coupling of river and groundwater flow processes linked by a leakage approach. KW - channel transmission losses KW - multi-temporal RapidEye satellite data KW - semi-arid hydrology KW - north-eastern Brazil KW - dryland rivers KW - riveraquifer interaction Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9243 SN - 1099-1085 VL - 27 IS - 7 SP - 1046 EP - 1060 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken 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 - Costa, A. C. A1 - Bronstert, Axel A1 - de Araujo, Jose Carlos T1 - A channel transmission losses model for different dryland rivers JF - Hydrology and earth system sciences : HESS N2 - Channel transmission losses in drylands take place normally in extensive alluvial channels or streambeds underlain by fractured rocks. They can play an important role in streamflow rates, groundwater recharge, freshwater supply and channel-associated ecosystems. We aim to develop a process-oriented, semi-distributed channel transmission losses model, using process formulations which are suitable for data-scarce dryland environments and applicable to both hydraulically disconnected losing streams and hydraulically connected losing(/gaining) streams. This approach should be able to cover a large variation in climate and hydro-geologic controls, which are typically found in dryland regions of the Earth. Our model was first evaluated for a losing/gaining, hydraulically connected 30 km reach of the Middle Jaguaribe River (MJR), Ceara, Brazil, which drains a catchment area of 20 000 km(2). Secondly, we applied it to a small losing, hydraulically disconnected 1.5 km channel reach in the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW), Arizona, USA. The model was able to predict reliably the streamflow volume and peak for both case studies without using any parameter calibration procedure. We have shown that the evaluation of the hypotheses on the dominant hydrological processes was fundamental for reducing structural model uncertainties and improving the streamflow prediction. For instance, in the case of the large river reach (MJR), it was shown that both lateral stream-aquifer water fluxes and groundwater flow in the underlying alluvium parallel to the river course are necessary to predict streamflow volume and channel transmission losses, the former process being more relevant than the latter. Regarding model uncertainty, it was shown that the approaches, which were applied for the unsaturated zone processes (highly nonlinear with elaborate numerical solutions), are much more sensitive to parameter variability than those approaches which were used for the saturated zone (mathematically simple water budgeting in aquifer columns, including backwater effects). In case of the MJR-application, we have seen that structural uncertainties due to the limited knowledge of the subsurface saturated system interactions (i.e. groundwater coupling with channel water; possible groundwater flow parallel to the river) were more relevant than those related to the subsurface parameter variability. In case of the WEGW application we have seen that the non-linearity involved in the unsaturated flow processes in disconnected dryland river systems (controlled by the unsaturated zone) generally contain far more model uncertainties than do connected systems controlled by the saturated flow. Therefore, the degree of aridity of a dryland river may be an indicator of potential model uncertainty and subsequent attainable predictability of the system. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1111-2012 SN - 1027-5606 VL - 16 IS - 4 SP - 1111 EP - 1135 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER -