Abstract
River discharge time series, originally recorded to anticipate floods and water scarcity, later became indispensable to design hydroelectric dams. Presently, discharge monitoring aids in detecting climatic and environmental change, because the discharge and quality of river water are functions of many climatic, biological, geological, and topographic variables coexisting in the basin. Climate change is altering the atmospheric precipitation distribution pattern-both, in time and space-as well as the occurrence of extreme climatic events. It is important the global upgrading of river gauging networks to unveil hydrological trends and changing atmospheric patterns. In so doing, discharge monitoring stations–and the resulting time series-may be, as well, invaluable in revealing the role played by significant environmental variables.
Highlights
Rivers are essential features for our planet’s habitability
Europe’s recent disastrous flooding took most hydrologists by surprise5, reiterating that climate change is a major challenge for humanity and, it is of utmost importance to build robust data bases so that controlling floods, water scarcity, and preserving water quality are actions that should be based on the most advanced technologies, securing efficient real-time data availability to all parties concerned
Harmonic analysis showed that the Paraná River at Corrientes exhibited a significant (p < 0.001) inter-annual oscillation in the ∼3–7 years range, which is in phase with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events (Pasquini and Depetris, 2007
Summary
Originally recorded to anticipate floods and water scarcity, later became indispensable to design hydroelectric dams. Discharge monitoring aids in detecting climatic and environmental change, because the discharge and quality of river water are functions of many climatic, biological, geological, and topographic variables coexisting in the basin. Climate change is altering the atmospheric precipitation distribution pattern-both, in time and space-as well as the occurrence of extreme climatic events. It is important the global upgrading of river gauging networks to unveil hydrological trends and changing atmospheric patterns. Discharge monitoring stations–and the resulting time series-may be, as well, invaluable in revealing the role played by significant environmental variables.
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