Surface water balance in the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira region

Abstract

The basins of upper Piracicaba river and the Paraíba do Sul river faced unprecedent water shortage between 2013 and 2014, due to the significant reduction of the streamflow and the regional precipitation in the Southeast Brazil. The knowledge and interpretation of the climate variability and its consequences on the water availability are approached regionally upon the use of spatio-temporal data of rainfall and discharge in the basin domain. These variables can be estimated using remote sensing, and compared to field measurements, which help to increase understanding the regional hydroclimatological patterns. This proposal plans to calculate rainfall and hydrological river discharge in the upper Piracicaba river and Paraiba do Sul rivers, using satellite data and gauge observations, with the purpose to study the relationship rainfall-runoff, and help to predict hydroclimatological phenomena on the regional basis. (AU)