Land use and climate change can influence runoff and soil erosion, threatening soil and water conservation in the Cerrado biome in Brazil. The adoption of a process-based model was necessary due to ...the lack of long-term observed data. Our goals were to calibrate the WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) model for different land uses under subtropical conditions in the Cerrado biome; predict runoff and soil erosion for these different land uses; and simulate runoff and soil erosion considering climate change. We performed the model calibration using a 5-year dataset (2012–2016) of observed runoff and soil loss in four different land uses (wooded Cerrado, tilled fallow without plant cover, pasture, and sugarcane) in experimental plots. Selected soil and management parameters were optimized for each land use during the WEPP model calibration with the existing field data. The simulations were conducted using the calibrated WEPP model components with a 100-year climate dataset created with CLIGEN (weather generator) based on regional climate statistics. We obtained downscaled General Circulation Model (GCM) projections, and runoff and soil loss were predicted with WEPP using future climate scenarios for 2030, 2060, and 2090 considering different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). The WEPP model had an acceptable performance for the subtropical conditions. Land use can influence runoff and soil loss rates in a significant way. Potential climate changes, which indicate the increase of rainfall intensities and depths, may increase the variability and rates of runoff and soil erosion. However, projected climate changes did not significantly affect the runoff and soil erosion for the four analyzed land uses at our location. Finally, the runoff behavior was distinct for each land use, but for soil loss we found similarities between pasture and wooded Cerrado, suggesting that the soil may attain a sustainable level when the land management follows conservation principles.
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•Process-based models replace empirical ones when long-term observations are scarce.•A process-based model effectively estimates runoff and soil erosion in Brazil.•Land use influences on runoff and soil erosion rates in a tropical soil.•Runoff and soil erosion responses to climate change are not significant.•Agricultural land may reach conservation levels of an undisturbed tropical woodland.
We assess the water balance of the Brazilian Cerrado based on remotely sensed estimates of precipitation (TRMM), evapotranspiration (MOD16), and terrestrial water storage (GRACE) for the period from ...2003 to 2010. Uncertainties for each remotely sensed data set were computed, the budget closure was evaluated using measured discharge data for the three largest river basins in the Cerrado, and the Mann‐Kendall test was used to evaluate temporal trends in the water balance components and measured river discharge. The results indicate an overestimation of discharge data, due mainly to the overestimation of rainfall by TRMM version 6. However, better results were obtained when the new release of TRMM 3B42 v7 was used instead. Our results suggest that there have been (a) significant increases in average annual evapotranspiration over the entire Cerrado of 51 ± 15 mm yr−1, (b) terrestrial water storage increases of 11 ± 6 mm yr−1 in the northeast region of the Brazilian Cerrado, and (c) runoff decreases of 72 ± 11 mm yr−1 in isolated spots and in the western part of the State of Mato Grosso. Although complete water budget closure from remote sensing remains a significant challenge due to uncertainties in the data, it provides a useful way to evaluate trends in major water balance components over large regions, identify dry periods, and assess changes in water balance due to land cover and land use change.
Key Points
Water budget for the Brazilian Cerrado was evaluated
Trends were assessed from remote sensing data, and in observed discharge
Uncertainties were computed from in situ data
The inadequate disposal of solid waste, a common practice in developing countries, can represent an important pollution source since the closure of these deposits typically does not include the ...adoption of monitoring, isolation, or remediation techniques. Even so, several disposal areas are abandoned, without performing long-term monitoring in order to evaluate the depletion of contaminants’ concentrations. This research aimed at comparing current and historical physicochemical data of water resources surrounding a non-sanitary landfill situated in a Guarani Aquifer recharge zone. The primary objective was to recognize whether significant changes in contaminants concentrations occurred, as well as if the area still poses a significant threat to the environment, 20 years after ending disposing activities. Samples from eight monitoring wells and three surface water points (upstream and downstream to the deposit) were evaluated in the periods of 1996–1997 and 2016–2019. The parameters pH, electrical conductivity (EC), alkalinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), chloride, nitrate, iron, manganese, calcium, and magnesium were investigated. Contamination has been detected in the landfill surroundings since the ending of the waste disposal (1996–1997), even though its intensity reduced within short distances from the waste mass. Nevertheless, no statistical variation occurred in 20 years’ time considering COD, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and ORP. Moreover, increases of EC, pH, alkalinity, iron, and manganese concentrations were observed for the years of 2016–2019. The results indicate that the evaluated contaminants do not suffer depletion in the surroundings of non-sanitary landfills in sandy aquifers, considering a time span of 20 years. This study also suggests that those areas need to be adequately remediated to permit other future land uses.
Abstract Droughts exert widespread impacts on both natural and social systems, and there is accumulating evidence that this situation may worsen in the context of global warming. Despite the ...importance of assessing changes in droughts to understand their potential future impacts on society, studies are unevenly distributed worldwide. In this study, utilizing bias-corrected CMIP6 simulations and a standard precipitation-evaporation index based approach, we quantified expected changes in future drought properties across 735 Brazilian catchments under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Beyond evaluating the statistical properties of future droughts, we assessed their occurrence under both land use and water demand perspectives and propose a new framework to better understand their link with changes in long- and short-term conditions of precipitation ( P ) and potential evapotranspiration ( PET ). Our results indicate that drought events are projected to become more frequent and severe in the future, with high CMIP6 model agreement. According to the SSP5-8.5 scenario, at least half of Brazilian cropland and pasture areas will experience an increase of over 30% in drought properties by the end of the century. Furthermore, among the 85% of catchments expected to experience more severe droughts, nearly 90% are also projected to exhibit increased water demand, which will likely exacerbate future water scarcity. The investigation of the relationship between droughts changes and climate variables suggests that catchments with augmented droughts in the future will likely exhibit increased long-term average PET and P -variability, but not necessarily long-term average P . For instance, over 50% of evaluated Brazilian catchments are expected to experience an intensification of drought properties even with increases in P mean . We believe this study may contribute (a) to improve Brazilian water resiliency by helping achieve the objectives of the National Water Security Plan and (b) to deepen our understanding of droughts in an uncertain future.
This study assessed the bacterial populations in a non-sanitary landfill around Guarani Aquifer recharge zone in Brazil. Samples from two different positions (sites 1 and 2) at three different depths ...were evaluated, totaling six solid waste samples; two samples from an impacted stream were also collected. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed using the Ion S5TM XL platform; 3113 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 52 phyla were identified
. Proteobacteria
(37%) and
Firmicutes
(28%) were the most abundant phyla in the landfill, whereas
Proteobacteria
(~ 50%) and
Bacteroidetes
(~ 10%) were more profuse in surface water samples. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) enabled us to clearly separate the samples according to their spatial location (site 1 or 2) or environmental matrix (surface water or solid waste samples), showing that microbiological populations are strongly associated with site-specific conditions and the kind of environmental matrix they come from. Environmental factors that mostly influenced the microbial communities were organic matter, oxidation–reduction potential, moisture, alkalinity, nitrogen (TKN), sodium, potassium, and zinc.
Exiguobacterium
(phylum
Firmicutes
) was overwhelmingly dominant at site 1 and was associated with higher concentrations of organic matter and potassium. Differently, site 2 did not present such dominant genera and was more diverse having lower concentrations of organic matter and nutrients. Distinct environments co-exist inside the same waste deposit, including zones which are representative of active and closed landfills and the occurrence of considerable physicochemical and microbiological shifts within short distances. Those shifts indicate that microbial populations are well adapted to the heterogeneity typical of urban solid waste, which is possibly beneficial to contaminant degradation.
Graphical abstract
Forest litter is a layer on the forest floor formed by materials falling from the vegetation. It plays an important role in the interception process in forests and, combined with canopy interception, ...can represent up to 50% of the total evaporation. However, the forest litter interception is usually underestimated and has been neglected mainly because of the difficulties in performing these measurements. This paper presents an equipment called Litter Interception Device (LID), which can be used both in laboratory and on site to measure the forest litter interception and the intensity of water flux to the soil. We tested and calibrated the LID in laboratory using three different simulated rainfall intensities above three different litter samples amounts. The samples were collected in an undisturbed wooded Cerrado area located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The maximum and minimum water storage capacities of the wooded Cerrado litter ranged between 1.0–3.07 and 0.78–2.27 mm, respectively. The device enables continuous measurements of the litter interception with 0.006 mm min−1 of precision and can assist future studies on the role of forest litter on hydrological processes and water balance improvements.
The use of environmental tracers brings comprehensive benefits to the management of water resources since it helps to prevent their pollution, minimize public health risks, and thus reduce the impact ...of urbanization. In Brazil, the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) has strategic and environmental importance, making its preservation and sustainable exploitation mandatory. The present study aimed at evaluating sources of contamination in the GAS using the combination of geochemical data and two environmental tracers: nitrate isotopes (
15
N
NO3
and
18
O
NO3
) and one rare earth element (Gadolinium—Gd). For that, five wells—four exploiting the GAS and one the Bauru Aquifer System (BAS)—were selected to discuss the human inputs in groundwater used for public supply in an urban area. Traditional physicochemical analyses were conducted for six campaign samplings and nitrate monitoring for this period was evaluated on a time scale, also considering the accumulated rainfall. Besides that, the double isotopic method (DIM), e.g., δ
18
O
NO3
e δ
15
N
NO3
, was applied to identify the fractionation and enable the distinction of the nitrate contamination source. In addition, the determination of anomalies of Gd, a wastewater-derived contaminant, was also performed to verify recent human inputs in groundwater. The results show that the local existence of nitrate in the GAS and BAS—even at low concentrations (values from 0.26 to 6.68 mg L
−1
)—originated from anthropogenic inputs (septic waste), as indicates the typical isotopic signals ratio in the isotopic approach. Associated with that, the evaluation of Gd permitted the separation of groundwater samples into older or more recent leakages. The use of environmental tracers to assess anthropogenic inputs in groundwater reiterates the importance of adopting more effective protection strategies for water resources management systems, in order to prevent contamination.
Graphical Abstract
The contribution of recharge to regional groundwater flow systems is essential information required to establish sustainable water resources management. The objective of this work was to determine ...the groundwater outflow in the Ribeirão da Onça Basin using a water balance model of the saturated soil zone. The basin is located in the outcrop region of the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS). The water balance method involved the determination of direct recharge values, groundwater storage variation and base flow. The direct recharge was determined by the water table fluctuation method (WTF). The base flow was calculated by the hydrograph separation method, which was generated by a rain-flow model supported by biweekly streamflow measurements in the control section. Undisturbed soil samples were collected at depths corresponding to the variation zone of the groundwater level to determine the specific yield of the soil (drainable porosity). Water balances were performed in the saturated zone for the hydrological years from February 2004 to January 2007. The direct recharge ranged from 14.0% to 38.0%, and groundwater outflow from 0.4% to 2.4% of the respective rainfall during the same period.
In the climate change scenario, extreme rainfall events are increasing in significance and frequency. It is essential to estimate the maximum precipitation intensity for designing ...hydraulic-hydrological structures, such as macrodrainage. Thus, this study makes a comparison between disaggregation coefficients and forms of the intense rainfall equation to determine an Intensity, Duration and Frequency (IDF) equation for Barcarena-PA. The rainfall historical series available in the Hidroweb database extends between 1981 and 2018. The Gumbel distribution presents the best fit in the return periods: 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200 and 1000 years, by the following tests: Filliben, Variance and Kolmogorov-Smirnov. The disaggregation of 1-day precipitation into shorter durations was done in two ways: using disaggregation coefficients recommended by the literature, as well as local disaggregation coefficients. For the construction of the IDF equation, two frequently used representations were considered: the first based on the determination of the coefficients: K, a, b and c; and the second, described in the Pluviometric Atlas of Brazil (APB), determines the coefficients: A, B, C, D and . The results indicated that the use of local disaggregation coefficients, in this case DCBarcarena, with adjustment coefficient R2=0.9945, together with the use of the equation described in the APB, provides the best fit, R2=0.9998, to historical data. When compared with other IDF equations from Barcarena-PA, the previous finding is clear in terms of underestimating the intensity values. Thus, the methodology presented here can be extended to locations with reduced sub-daily rainfall records associated with large annual maximum daily rainfall records.
Variabilidade espacial da erosividade das chuvas no Brasil Trindade, Ana Luíza Ferreira; Oliveira, Paulo Tarso Sanches de; Anache, Jamil Alexandre Ayach ...
Pesquisa agropecuaria brasileira,
12/2016, Letnik:
51, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi elaborar um novo mapa de erosividade da chuva para o Brasil, utilizando séries pluviométricas superiores a 20 anos, e analisar a distribuição espacial dos ...valores de erosividade. Dados de chuvas de 1.521 estações foram aplicados a 75 equações de regressão que relacionam a precipitação média anual (P) e o coeficiente de chuvas (Rc) com o índice de erosividade (EI30). Os valores de erosividade para os locais não amostrados foram obtidos por interpolação, com uso do método de krigagem ordinária. Os índices mais elevados foram observados entre novembro e fevereiro. Os resultados consistem de interpolações que apresentam desempenho satisfatório para a estimativa da distribuição espacial da erosividade média anual das chuvas e do EI30, ao longo dos meses do ano. Assim, estes mapas podem auxiliar no planejamento da conservação do solo e da água, a partir do delineamento das regiões e das épocas do ano mais críticas quanto à erosividade da chuva.
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