Study region The upper Amazon River, where the water level measured at the Tamshiyacu station (Peru) shows seasonal variability of seven meters. Study focus Key parameters for the flood recession period (beginning, end and duration of the low-water period, velocity of water falling and rising, and inversions in the direction of stage change known as “repiquete” events) are analyzed for the period 1985–2015, along with their relationship to rainfall integrated in the upper Amazon basin at Tamshiyacu. New hydrological insights the low-water period lasts about four months, beginning, on average, at the end of July and ending in early November. Since the late 1990s, the low-water period has tended to end later, last longer and the flood recession ends more abruptly than it used to. This may be related to the increased frequency of dry days during the austral winter in the central and s...

This paper documents the spatiotemporal evolution of wet‐day and dry‐day frequency (WDF and DDF) in the western Amazon, its relationships with oceanic and atmospheric variability and possible impact on vegetation. WDF and DDF changed significantly during the 1980–2009 period (p < 0.05). An increase in WDF is observed after 1995 over the northern part of the western Amazon (Marañón basin). The average annual value of WDF changed from 22 days/yr before 1995 to 34 days after that date (+55% after 1995). In contrast, DDF increased significantly over the central and southern part of this region (Ucayali basin) after 1986. Average annual DDF was 16.2 days before 1986 and 23.8 days afterward (+47% after 1986). Interannual variability in WDF appears to be modulated by changes in Pacific SST and the Walker cell during the November–March season. This mechanism enhances convective act...

El análisis de datos anuales, estacionales o mensuales de precipitación puede conducir a una interpretación limitada de la distribución espacial y temporal de la lluvia diaria debido a que grandes porcentajes del total anual pueden ocurrir en pocos días. Esta alta concentración de lluvia diaria puede causar erosión de suelos, deslizamientos o inundaciones. La concentración de lluvia diaria para toda la cuenca amazónica (CA) es caracterizada empleando un “Índice de Concentración”, el cual es estimado a partir de un producto grillado de precipitación observada para el periodo 1980-2009. Nuestros hallazgos proveen nueva información acerca de la distribución espacial de la lluvia diaria sobre la CA. Los resultados indican que la concentración de lluvia diaria es relativamente baja en Colombia, Ecuador, norte de Perú y los Andes sobre los 1500 m s. n. m., no obstante, es m...

Este trabajo ofrece un panorama inicial de las características climáticas y los impactos hidrológicos afines durante las recientes sequías extremas (1995, 1998, 2005 y 2010) en el río Amazonas peruano. Para ello se empleó una base de datos in situ de caudales y precipitaciones. Las sequías generalmente se asocian a anomalías positivas de temperatura superficial del mar (TSM) en el Atlántico tropical norte, vientos alisios y transporte de vapor de agua débiles hacia el oeste de la cuenca amazónica, que acompañados de un aumento en la subsidencia sobre la parte central y sur de la cuenca, explican la falta de lluvias y los muy bajos valores de caudales. Sin embargo, en 1998 hacia el final del evento El Niño de 1997/1998 la sequía estuvo más relacionada con una divergencia anómala de vapor de agua en el oeste de la amazonia, que es característica de un evento cálido en el ...

In this work we document and analyze the hydrological annual cycles characterized by a rapid transition between low and high flows in the Amazonas River (Peruvian Amazon) and we show how these events, which may impact vulnerable riverside residents, are related to regional climate variability. Our analysis is based on comprehensive discharge, rainfall and average suspended sediment data sets. Particular attention is paid to the 2010–11 hydrological year, when an unprecedented abrupt transition from the extreme September 2010 drought (8300 m³ s⁻¹) to one of the four highest discharges in April 2011 (49 500 m³ s⁻¹) was recorded at Tamshiyacu (Amazonas River). This unusual transition is also observed in average suspended sediments. Years with a rapid increase in discharge are characterized by negative sea surface temperature anomalies in the central equatorial Pacific during aus...

En « Amazonie des rivières », la période de basses eaux permet la mise en culture de vastes zones exondées et fertiles sur les berges des rivières et dans les plaines d'inondation. La variabilité des extrêmes hydrologiques et celle de la structure du cycle de décrue, facteurs réputés importants pour la qualité des récoltes sont explorés à la station fluviométrique de Tamshiyacu sur le fleuve Amazonas. Le riz, culture rentable dans cette région, est notre référence. Les résultats ne présentent pas les liens supposés entre résultats agricoles et durée de la saison de basses eaux ou vitesse de remontée des eaux. Néanmoins, ils montrent la baisse des étiages, l'allongement de la durée de décrue en relation avec un retard de la montée des eaux et une accélération de la remontée des faux pendant la période 1985-2015.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of the ORCHIDEE land surface model to simulate streamflows over each sub-basin of the Amazon River basin. For this purpose, simulations are performed with a routing module including the influence of floodplains and swamps on river discharge and validated against on-site hydrological measurements collected within the HYBAM observatory over the 1980–2000 period. When forced by the NCC global meteorological dataset, the initial version of ORCHIDEE shows discrepancies with ORE HYBAM measurements with underestimation by 15 % of the annual mean streamflow at Obidos hydrological station. Consequently, several improvements are incrementally added to the initial simulation in order to reduce those discrepancies. First, values of NCC precipitation are substituted by ORE HYBAM daily in-situ rainfall observations from the meteorological services of ...