Carlos Antonio Costa dos Santos

Análise dos índices de extremos para o semi-árido do Brasil e suas relações com TSM e IVDN

The objective this paper is verify the tendencies of indexes of detection of climate changes, dependent of the daily precipitation, in the states of RN and PB and to analyze your relationships with NDVI and anomalies of SST in the areas of Nino 1+2, Nino 3, North Tropical Atlantic Ocean (TNA) and South Tropical Atlantic Ocean (TSA). It was used data of precipitation of 44 locations, in the period from 1935 to 2000, representing all the regions of two States; of IVDN, obtained of NOAA/AVHRR, in the period from 1980 to 2000 and of anomalies of SST, given in by NOAA, from 1950 to 2000. A tendency of increase of the humidity conditions was observed on the two states. The index dry consecutive days it presented correlation significant statistically with the anomalies of SST of the areas TNA and TSA. While, the indexes very humid days and maximum amount of rain in five days they showed significant correlations with the areas of Nino 1+2 and 3 and with TNA. In general, it was observed that NDVI of the Savanna is more dependent of the precipitation ends than the one of the Atlantic forest. In agreement with the obtained results it was ended that the climatic changes detected by the indexes they are resulting as much of the factors of great scale as of local scale. Another obtained result was influence of ENSO on the extreme indexes of rain and consequently on climate and the dynamics of the vegetation of the Semi-arid.

Trends of precipitation indices in Ceará State.

The principal objective of this work is to provide new information on the trends in the total precipitation and extreme events of precipitation in the State of Ceara, making an analysis of different indices of detection of climatic changes, based on data of daily precipitation. Precipitation data of 18 stations were used, in the period from 1935 to 2006, representing all the microregions of the State; the software used in the processing and quality control of the data was RClimdex 1.9.0. The results show local changes in the precipitation and a visible increase in the humidity conditions in Ceara.

Assessment of daily actual evapotranspiration with SEBAL and S-SEBI algorithms in cotton crop

The main objective of this study is to assess the daily ET accuracy obtained by remote sensing algorithms in comparison with measurements in situ. The experiment was conducted in the State of Ceara, Brazil, in a cotton experimental field of EMBRAPA using Bowen ratio measurements to obtain the energy balance components. SEBAL and S-SEBI algorithms were used with four TM Landsat – 5 images of 2005, in order to determine the actual evapotranspiration of cotton crop. The comparison between the estimated values by remote sensing algorithms and the measured values in situ showed that the methods (SEBAL and S-SEBI) presented satisfactory results. The S-SEBI algorithm is an important tool to be applied in ET analysis of semi-arid regions, due its practicability to solve the energy balance and its processing is simpler than SEBAL algorithm which needs the solution of an iterative process.

Relationship between the surface temperature on the tropical oceans and the duration of dry spells in the Paraíba State

This paper has the objective of verifying the possible influences of the anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Equatorial Pacific and in the Tropical Atlantic on the duration of the largest dry spell of the rainy season of the micro-regions of the Paraiba State. Daily precipitation data of the rain gauge stations distributed in the all sectors of Paraiba, for the period from January 1, 1963 to December 31, 1999, the monthly anomalies of SST in the area of the ninos: Nino 1+2, Nino 3, Nino 3.4 and Nino 4, and monthly indices of North and South Tropical Atlantic, for the period from October, 1962 to December, 1999, obtained from the Diagnostic Center of Climate of the NOAA were used in this study. Correlations and graphs obtained between the anomalies of SST and the dry spell are analyzed. The results obtained showed that the dry spells of the micro-regions of the Coast and Swamp areas are more influenced by the conditions of anomalies of SST on Tropical Atlantic, while the dry spells of the micro-regions of Cariri/Curimatau and Interior, in the central part and west of the State are influenced by the SST of Equatorial Pacific.

Estimation of soil moisture in the root-zone from remote sensing data

Field-based soil moisture measurements are cumbersome. Thus, remote sensing techniques are needed because allows field and landscape-scale mapping of soil moisture depth-averaged through the root zone of existing vegetation. The objective of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of an empirical relationship to calculate soil moisture from remote sensing data of irrigated soils of the Apodi Plateau, in the Brazilian semiarid region. The empirical relationship had previously been tested for irrigated soils in Mexico, Egypt, and Pakistan, with promising results. In this study, the relationship was evaluated from experimental data collected from a cotton field. The experiment was carried out in an area of 5 ha with irrigated cotton. The energy balance and evaporative fraction (Λ) were measured by the Bowen ratio method. Soil moisture (θ) data were collected using a PR2 - Profile Probe (Delta-T Devices Ltd). The empirical relationship was tested using experimentally collected Λ and θ values and was applied using the Λ values obtained from the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) and three TM - Landsat 5 images. There was a close correlation between measured and estimated θ values (p<0.05, R2 = 0.84) and there were no significant differences according to the Student t-test (p<0.01). The statistical analyses showed that the empirical relationship can be applied to estimate the root-zone soil moisture of irrigated soils, i.e. when the evaporative fraction is greater than 0.45.

DOWNWARD LONGWAVE RADIATION ESTIMATES FOR CLEAR-SKY CONDITIONS OVER NORTHEAST BRAZIL

The main objective of this paper is to assess the performance of nine downward longwave radiation equations for clear-sky condition and develop a locally adjusted equation using the observed vapor pressure and air temperature data. The radiation and atmospheric parameters were measured during the months of October 2005 to June 2006 at a micrometeorological tower installed at the experimental site in a banana orchard in the semiarid region of Northeast Brazil. The comparative statistics for the performance of the downward longwave radiation calculation models during daytime and nighttime compared to measured data have shown that the parameterizations with more physical foundations have the best results. The locally adjusted equation and Sugita and Brutsaert model developed in 1993 showed errors less than 1.0% in comparison with measured values. Downward longwave radiation is one of the most expensive and difficult component of the radiation budget to be monitored in micrometeorological studies. Hence, the locally adjusted equation can be used to estimate downward longwave energy, needed as input to some agricultural and hydrological models, in semi-arid regions of the Northeast Brazil, where this component is not monitored.

Effects of temperature on the life cycle, expansion, and dispersion of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in three cities in Paraiba, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue and is common throughout tropical and subtropical regions. Its distribution is modulated by environmental factors, such as temperature. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of temperature on the life cycle and expansion of Ae. aegypti populations in the cities of Campina Grande, João Pessoa, and Patos. Samples of Ae. aegypti were collected in the three cities and raised in the laboratory. We assessed the life cycles of the three Ae. aegypti populations under six constant temperatures (16, 22, 28, 33, 36, and 39° C), selected on the basis of historical temperature tendencies of each city. We also used existing climate data to calculate projected temperature increases for all three areas. Our results suggest that Campina Grande, João Pessoa, and Patos will experience, respectively, maximum temperature increases of 0.030° C/year, 0.069° C/year, and 0.061° C/year, and minimum temperature increases of 0.019° C/year, -0.047° C/year, and -0.086° C/year. These projected increases will result in temperatures favorable to the Ae. aegypti life cycle, causing rapid population growth. Therefore, Ae. aegypti populations are likely to expand in the mesoregions represented by these cities.

EVENTOS EXTREMOS DE PRECIPITAÇÃO NO ESTADO DO CEARÁ E SUAS RELAÇÕES COM A TEMPERATURA DOS OCEANOS TROPICAIS

EXTREME RAINFALL EVENTS IN CEARA STATE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH TROPICAL OCEANS TEMPERATURE The main objective of this study is to provide information about recent trends of extreme rainfall over Ceara State, associating these extreme events with Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Mann-Kendall method is applied to rainfall data of 18 rain gauges from 1971 to 2006 to obtain the trends. The results show that the drought intensity is increasing and the heavy precipitation events are decreasing and that the increase in the Pacific and north of equator Atlantic Ocean SST anomalies lead to an increase in the number of consecutive dry days in northern Ceara. Rainfall extreme indices have shown negative correlations with SST anomalies on Pacific and Tropical North Atlantic regions and positive with Tropical South Atlantic region. However, in southern Ceara region, the consecutive wet day behavior indicates that the rainy season is governed by other atmospheric systems, which needs to be more studied for better understanding.

Characterization of human thermal comfort in urban areas of brazilian semiarid

Experimental studies were conducted aiming to characterize the thermal conditions in urban areas of the Brazilian semiarid for identifying the level of human thermal comfort in urban areas of the municipalities of Mossoro-RN, Serra Talhada-PE, Petrolina-PE and Juazeiro-BA. The results showed that the constituent elements of urban areas contribute to human thermal discomfort index (DIT). Both the wet and dry seasons showed up an uncomfortable condition in Mossoro on May 15th and on 23rd, 2008 (rural area) and on May 25rd, 2008 (urban area). By applying Thoms equation for obtaining the DIT, it was observed that the urban areas reported thermal comfort conditions always inferior to those observed in the rural areas. The results indicate conditions of partial comfort for the all areas surveyed. However, the incidence of human thermal discomfort related to the minimum, average and maximum air temperatures are, probably associated to the formation of urban heat islands. In addition, the afforestation is an effective mechanism of mitigating the adverse effects of these structures with better quality of life to the population. Therefore, it can be stated that the Brazilian semiarid region has specific urban climate, which is influenced by the design characteristics of the urban structure and buildings.

Surface energy exchange and evapotranspiration from cotton crop under full irrigation conditions in the Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazilian Semi-Arid

The main objectives of this study were documenting how energy balance partitioning and ET vary seasonally along each growth season of cotton crop under full irrigation conditions in the Brazilian semiarid. The studied area was located in the Apodi Plateau, which is located on west of Rio Grande do Norte state and is an area with extensive agricultural suitability and semiarid climate. Micrometeorological measurements were taken during cotton growth season on dry seasons of 2008 and 2009 years in a cotton crop field of about 5 ha, and the energy balance components were derived from Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) method. The obtained results revealed important role of the vegetative growth of cotton crop in the energy balance partitioning. The values of LE/Rn ranged from 58% (Initial growth season) to 81% (Middle-growth season) in 2008 and from 63% (Initial) to 81% (Middle season) in 2009. These variations is in accordance to LAI variations, which ranged from 0.14 cm2 cm–2 (Initial growth season in 2008) and 0.18 cm2 cm–2 (Initial growth season in 2009) to about 5.0 cm2 cm–2 (middle season). On the other hand, H/Rn and G/Rn varied inversely with the LAI variations. The concordance between LE/Rn and LAI is evidenced by similarity between curves of ET and LAI and between curves of Kc and LAI, especially when LAI reaches values greater than 3.0.