Climatic analysis of the Mamanguape River Basin

The rainfall in Northeast of Brazil presents great variability, thus, monitoring the dry and rainy periods is necessary, as this is essential to ensure proper management of water resources. Therefore, the Rainfall Anomaly Index was used to monitor the dry and rainy periods, as well as their intensities. Data from 31 stations distributed along the basin of the Mamanguape river with a time series of 18 years (from 1994 to 2011) was used. Within each year two distinct periods were observed, one wet season from March to August and a dry period from September to February. The study also included the weather spatial basin, which revealed three distinct regions, the first being the eastern region, the second is the central region and the third is the western region. Finally, projections were made for reduction and increase in precipitation in 20% of the current value obtained from the time series as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Thus it was possible to project future climate changes in the watershed that may significantly alter the water intake

rainfall anomaly index; dry season; rainy season