ASSESSMENT OF HYDROLOGICAL MASS LOSSES IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC EASTERN HYDROGRAPHIC REGION, BRAZIL

Abstract:

Freshwater monitoring globally is fundamental to support decision-making. However, long-term hydrological data for some regions are lacking due to limited of observational networks. Remote sensing products come to aggregate the in situ observations and overcome obstacles about data availability. This study assesses the hydrological mass losses in the Northeast Atlantic Eastern Hydrographic Region (NAEHR) in Brazil through temporal data sources. GRACE RL06 Mascon solutions, reservoirs volume, vegetation index and rainfall stations are used. The results confirm the cohesion between the TWS variations with water volume and NDVI, obtaining a strong correlation of 0.78 and 0.77 respectively. The Standardized Precipitation Index scales (12, 24 and 36 months) showed a moderate and strong correlation with the TWS of 0.57, 0.73 and 0.72 respectively and identified the last regional severe drought from 2012 to 2017. The NEAHR is located almost entirely in the Brazilian semiarid region, comprises about 24 million inhabitants, it is high vulnerable to drought, thus justifying the importance of monitoring its water resources availability.

Keywords:
Drought; GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index); SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index); TWS (Total Water Storage)