Events extreme rainfall and hidroclimático risk in Pernambuco / Brazil

• Main Authors: Joselma Araújo de Lucena, Lucas Suassuna de A. Wanderley, Rodrigo Ranulpho Da Silva, João Vitaliano Carvalho Rocha, Ranyére Silva Nóbrega
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Chile, Departamento de Geografía 2016-07-01
• Series: Investigaciones Geográficas
• Online Access: https://investigacionesgeograficas.uchile.cl/index.php/IG/article/view/41819

Intense rains are natural events associated with urban peculiarities that can become sources of danger, worsening the population's living conditions in the city. In Brazil, the scenarios of environmental degradation resulting from social inequalities and poor infrastructure, coupled with the occupation of inappropriate spaces highlight risks and vulnerabilities that often coincide with urban river environments. This article aims to analyze the occurrence of extreme events caused by rainfall in mesoregion Zona da Mata in Pernambuco, Brazil, specifically, the municipalities of Barreiros and Palmares. Furthermore, the risk conditions that led or may lead to disaster areas were studied. The analysis was carried out, firstly by analyzing the descriptive statistics of the time series of precipitation and later the Rain Anomaly Index (RAI) was calculated. Satellite image analysis was then utilized to characterize the pattern of rain and atmospheric dynamics associated with the period of occurrence of selected rainfall events; heavy rainfall concentrated in a short period of time. The main rainfall event of great magnitude for municipalities occurred in June 2010 caused by Eastern wave disturbance, which led to the flooding of rivers and flooding in several cities in the basin of Una and Mundau rivers.