The big picture of field hydrology studies in Brazil

Abstract

In-situ hydrological monitoring is essential for a proper decision-making process and modelling. Efforts have been made in Brazil to carry out field activities at the basin scale, but how complete and comprehensive are those studies? Where are they located? How long have they been carried out? What are the main findings? To answer these questions, an overview of experimental monitoring basins in Brazil is presented, listing their geographical locations, monitored variables, operational status, monitoring periods and main publications. We identified 60 monitored sites, spread across most Brazilian biomes, with an average monitoring period of 12 years. However, some publications from these monitoring studies are not fully accessible to the international community. Field hydrology activities in Brazil contribute to a better understanding of hydrological processes in humid and semiarid regions and inform us about the impacts of land-use change on water quality and quantity.

Evaluating the Impact of Streamflow Rating Curve Precision on Firm Energy of Hydropower Plants

“…Equation (10) presents the restriction of meeting the system's demand or energy balance. The sum between the hydroelectric energy generated and a possible energy deficit must be equal to the upper limit of the system's firm energy, which will be considered to be the sum of the installed powers of all hydropower plants in the system.…”

“…The recent study developed by [10] analyzes the current scenario of hydrological monitoring in Brazil and comments on the economic aspects and time costs in campaigns for the acquisition of hydrological data in the field, depending on the type of measurement adopted.…”

Observing the critical zone on a critical budget: The Peri Lake experimental catchment

“…Reconciling low‐cost equipment, low technology and non‐conventional sources of data can be an alternative to expand hydrological observation (Tauro et al, 2018), particularly in developing countries, where long‐term records are scarce and pressure on water resources is growing (Burt & McDonnell, 2015; Wohl et al, 2012). In Brazil, for example, a vast country extending 10 climatic zones and 6 natural biomes, there are few experimental sites and most of the observations continuity has been hindered by decreasing fund availability (Melo et al, 2020).…”

Water quality assessment based on multivariate statistics and water quality index of a strategic river in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…Monitoring water quality in order to assess its spatial and temporal variations is essential for water management and pollution control 17 . On the other hand, monitoring programs generate large data sets that require interpretation techniques 18 .…”