Causes and consequences of seasonal changes in the water flow of the São Francisco river in the semiarid of Brazil

Anderson dos Santos; Pabricio Marcos Oliveira Lopes; Marcos Vinícius da Silva; Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim; Geber Barbosa de Albuquerque Moura; Gabriel Siqueira Tavares Fernandes; Douglas Alberto de Oliveira Silva; John Lennon Bezerra da Silva; Joez André de Moraes Rodrigues; Emanuel Araújo Silva; José Francisco de Oliveira-Júnior

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators (Dec 2020)

Causes and consequences of seasonal changes in the water flow of the São Francisco river in the semiarid of Brazil

Anderson dos Santos,
Pabricio Marcos Oliveira Lopes,
Marcos Vinícius da Silva,
Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim,
Geber Barbosa de Albuquerque Moura,
Gabriel Siqueira Tavares Fernandes,
Douglas Alberto de Oliveira Silva,
John Lennon Bezerra da Silva,
Joez André de Moraes Rodrigues,
Emanuel Araújo Silva,
José Francisco de Oliveira-Júnior

Affiliations

Anderson dos Santos: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; Corresponding author.
Pabricio Marcos Oliveira Lopes: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Marcos Vinícius da Silva: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Geber Barbosa de Albuquerque Moura: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Gabriel Siqueira Tavares Fernandes: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Douglas Alberto de Oliveira Silva: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
John Lennon Bezerra da Silva: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Joez André de Moraes Rodrigues: Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Emanuel Araújo Silva: Department of Forest Sciences, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
José Francisco de Oliveira-Júnior: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Lourival Melo Mota Avenue, s/n, 57072-970, Tabuleiro dos Martins, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8
p. 100084

Abstract

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the causes and consequences of changes in the water flow of the São Francisco River, on the border between the states of Sergipe and Alagoas, a Brazilian semiarid region. For this, we used images from the Landsat-8 satellite, OLI sensor, with a spatial resolution of 30 m. The results found in this study reveal two distinct behaviors in the study region of the Low São Francisco watershed, the first encompassing more homogeneous areas and with greater environmental preservation located in the West and the second encompassing heterogeneous areas with severe environmental degradation in the east of the study region. In general, due to the occurrence of exposed soil, thin vegetation, and regions of the high declivity, the basin has a high and very high degree of vulnerability in 73.8% of its land, with serious risks of desertification. According to the results of the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), there was a drastic reduction in the surface area of water bodies along the São Francisco River channel, evidenced in the period from 2013 to 2018, with the expansion of sandbank areas in 17.7 km2. Agricultural and livestock activity was configured as an important factor in increasing land vulnerability. The evidence in this study suggests that changes in land use and coverage induce increases in the sandbank areas within the river channel, even in periods of greater water volume, which causes the silting up of the São Francisco river bed in its low course.

Published in Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

ISSN: 2665-9727 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-and-sustainability-indicators

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