Variação temporal da Comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos em um riacho intermitente do semiárido brasileiro

In Brazilian semiarid region, the majority of water bodies are temporary and the biodiversity in these ecosystems is poorly known. The goal of this study was to describe the temporal variation of benthic macroinvertebrates in an intermittent stream in the Brazilian semiarid region. From March to July of 2009, surveys of benthic macroinvertebrates and water physiochemical parameters were done in a first order stream located at Piranhas-Açu River basin. 25 macroinvertebrates families were found, 21 belonging to Insecta class. The chironomids were the most abundant group during all study period and were represented by 19 genus. The largest densities and taxonomic richness were seen in the drying phase of the stream while the smallest values were found in the period with the heaviest rainfalls ( wet phase ). Only the families Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae were found during all study period, suggesting that these groups have better adaptations to support floods and droughts. Furthermore, these two groups seemed to be pioneering in this stream. Among the chironomids, Paratendipes dominated the period of floods while Tanytarsus were more abundant in the drying phase . This study showed that hydrological fluctuation is the main force influencing the macroinvertebrate community in this stream, therefore, efforts seeking the conservation and management of Brazilian semiarid water bodies should consider this high natural variability in flow regime

Analyse des signaux radars polarimétriques en bandes C et L pour le suivi de l'humidité du sol de sites forestiers

Résumé : Dans les couverts forestiers, le suivi de l’humidité du sol permet de prévenir plusieurs désastres tels que la paludification, les incendies et les inondations. Comme ce paramètre est très dynamique dans l’espace et dans le temps, son estimation à grande échelle présente un grand défi, d’où le recours à la télédétection radar. Le capteur radar à synthèse d’ouverture (RSO) est couramment utilisé grâce à sa vaste couverture et sa résolution spatiale élevée. Contrairement aux sols nus et aux zones agricoles, le suivi de l’humidité du sol en zone forestière est très peu étudié à cause de la complexité des processus de diffusion dans ce type de milieu. En effet, la forte atténuation de la contribution du sol par la végétation et la forte contribution de volume issue de la végétation réduisent énormément la sensibilité du signal radar à l’humidité du sol. Des études portées sur des couverts forestiers ont montré que le signal radar en bande C provient principalement de la couche supérieure et sature vite avec la densité de la végétation. Cependant, très peu d’études ont exploré le potentiel des paramètres polarimétriques, dérivés d’un capteur polarimétrique comme RADARSAT-2, pour suivre l’humidité du sol sur les couverts forestiers. L’effet du couvert végétal est moins important avec la bande L en raison de son importante profondeur de pénétration qui permet de mieux informer sur l’humidité du sol. L’objectif principal de ce projet est de suivre l’humidité du sol à partir de données radar entièrement polarimétriques en bandes C et L sur des sites forestiers. Les données utilisées sont celles de la campagne terrain Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation EXperiment 2012 (SMAPVEX12) tenue du 6 juin au 17 juillet 2012 au Manitoba (Canada). Quatre sites forestiers de feuillus ont été échantillonnés. L’espèce majoritaire présente est le peuplier faux-tremble. Les données utilisées incluent des mesures de l’humidité du sol, de la rugosité de surface du sol, des caractéristiques des sites forestiers (arbres, sous-bois, litières…) et des données radar entièrement polarimétriques aéroportées et satellitaires acquises respectivement, en bande L (UAVSAR) à 30˚ et 40˚ et en bande C (RADARSAT-2) entre 20˚ et 30˚. Plusieurs paramètres polarimétriques ont été dérivés des données UAVSAR et RADARSAT-2 : les coefficients de corrélation (ρHHVV, φHHVV, etc); la hauteur du socle; l’entropie (H), l’anisotropie (A) et l’angle alpha extraits de la décomposition de Cloude-Pottier; les puissances de diffusion de surface (Ps), de double bond (Pd) extraites de la décomposition de Freeman-Durden, etc. Des relations entre les données radar (coefficients de rétrodiffusion multifréquences et multipolarisations (linéaires et circulaires) et les paramètres polarimétriques) et l’humidité du sol ont été développées et analysées. Les résultats ont montré que 1) En bande L, plusieurs paramètres optimaux permettent le suivi de l’humidité du sol en zone forestière avec un coefficient de corrélation significatif (p-value < 0,05): σ[indice supérieur 0] linéaire et σ[indice supérieur 0] circulaire (le coefficient de corrélation, r, varie entre 0,60 et 0,96), Ps (r entre 0,59 et 0,84), Pd (r entre 0,6 et 0,82), ρHHHV_30˚, ρVVHV_30˚, φHHHV_30˚ and φHHVV_30˚ (r entre 0,56 et 0,81) alors qu’en bande C, ils sont réduits à φHHHV, φVVHV et φHHVV (r est autour de 0,90). 2) En bande L, les paramètres polarimétriques n’ont pas montré de valeur ajoutée par rapport aux signaux conventionnels multipolarisés d’amplitude, pour le suivi de l’humidité du sol sur les sites forestiers. En revanche, en bande C, certains paramètres polarimétriques ont montré de meilleures relations significatives avec l’humidité du sol que les signaux conventionnels multipolarisés d’amplitude.

Flooded areas: Allegheny River, Great Creek and Little Valley Creek, Salamanca, New York.

Scale ca. 1:32,000.

Executive order no. 2016-13

This executive order by Governor Nikki R. Haley establishes the South Carolina Community Development Block Grant Steering Committee to advise the South Carolina Department of Commerce on the development of the South Carolina State Action Plan and oversee its implementation for the disbursement of the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Relief funds due to the historic flooding in October of 2015, leading to widespread damage to homes across the state

Veto of R.182, H.4717

This veto message from Governor Nikki Haley vetoes a bill would give farmers an additional $40 million in cash payments other small businesses will never receive because it is an unprecedented bailout for a single industry affected by last year's flooding.

Seasonal changes of heat and moisture fluxes from the Caspian Sea surface and its effect on synoptic systems with heavy rainfalls in southern shores of the sea during 2005-2010

Caspian Sea with its unique characteristics is a significant source to supply required heat and moisture for passing weather systems over the north of Iran. Investigation of heat and moisture fluxes in the region and their effects on these systems that could lead to floods and major financial and human losses is essential in weather forecasting. Nowadays by improvement of numerical weather and climate prediction models and the increasing need to more accurate forecasting of heavy rainfall, the evaluation and verification of these models has been become much more important. In this study we have used the WRF model as a research-practical one with many valuable characteristics and flexibilities. In this research, the effects of heat and moisture fluxes of Caspian Sea on the synoptic and dynamical structure of 20 selective systems associated with heavy rainfall in the southern shores of Caspian Sea are investigated. These systems are selected based on the rainfall data gathered by three local stations named: Rasht, Babolsar and Gorgan in different seasons during a five-year period (2005-2010) with maximum amount of rainfall through the 24 hours of a day. In addition to synoptic analyses of these systems, the WRF model with and without surface flues was run using the two nested grids with the horizontal resolutions of 12 and 36 km. The results show that there are good consistencies between the predicted distribution of rainfall field, time of beginning and end of rainfall by the model and the observations. But the model underestimates the amounts of rainfall and the maximum difference with the observation is about 69%. Also, no significant changes in the results are seen when the domain and the resolution of computations are changed. The other noticeable point is that the systems are severely weakened by removing heat and moisture fluxes and thereby the amounts of large scale rainfall are decreased up to 77% and the convective rainfalls tend to zero.

A space-time hybrid hourly rainfall model for derived flood frequency analysis

For derived flood frequency analysis based on hydrological modelling long continuous precipitation time series with high temporal resolution are needed. Often, the observation network with recording rainfall gauges is poor, especially regarding the limited length of the available rainfall time series. Stochastic precipitation synthesis is a good alternative either to extend or to regionalise rainfall series to provide adequate input for long-term rainfall-runoff modelling with subsequent estimation of design floods. Here, a new two step procedure for stochastic synthesis of continuous hourly space-time rainfall is proposed and tested for the extension of short observed precipitation time series. First, a single-site alternating renewal model is presented to simulate independent hourly precipitation time series for several locations. The alternating renewal model describes wet spell durations, dry spell durations and wet spell intensities using univariate frequency distributions separately for two seasons. The dependence between wet spell intensity and duration is accounted for by 2-copulas. For disaggregation of the wet spells into hourly intensities a predefined profile is used. In the second step a multi-site resampling procedure is applied on the synthetic point rainfall event series to reproduce the spatial dependence structure of rainfall. Resampling is carried out successively on all synthetic event series using simulated annealing with an objective function considering three bivariate spatial rainfall characteristics. In a case study synthetic precipitation is generated for some locations with short observation records in two mesoscale catchments of the Bode river basin located in northern Germany. The synthetic rainfall data are then applied for derived flood frequency analysis using the hydrological model HEC-HMS. The results show good performance in reproducing average and extreme rainfall characteristics as well as in reproducing observed flood frequencies. The presented model has the potential to be used for ungauged locations through regionalisation of the model parameters.

Efetividade da doxiciclina na profilaxia contra letptospirose

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis of considerable medical and economical importance that affects humans in both urban and rural contexts, as well as domestic animals and wild fauna. Leptospira interrogans is the causative agent and is transmitted to humans by indirect contact with contaminated soil or water. The clinical syndromes include sub clinical infection, self-limited anicteric febrile illness, and severe and potentially fatal illness, known as Weil´s syndrome. In developed countries, leptospirosis is related to occupational or recreational activities while in developing countries, outbreaks occur during floods. In those regions, traditional strategies to prevent the transmission are difficulties to be implemented because of costs and lack of community acceptance. In addition, no efficient vaccine is available for human use. Several studies have suggested that chemoprophylaxis with doxycycline pre and post-exposure may be effective to prevent leptospirosis. Leptospirosis has been reported in rural areas of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil since 1985 in rice farmers who present the anicteric illness. The disease cause great social and economics impact. The study was conducted in São Miguel where an epidemic of leptospirosis in rice farmers was reported. The main objective was to determine the efficacy of doxycycline in preventing Leptospira exposure. A taxa de soroprevalência de leptospirose na população estudada antes e após a colheita foi de 14,2% (n=22) e de 16.6% (n=27) respectivamente. Anti-Leptospira serology was determined for 61 subjects in two instances, pre and post-exposure to potential contaminated water. There was an increased risk of 29.0 per cent in acquiring infection for individuals that did not use doxycycline. In addition, an increased risk of 30.0 % observed in farmers who did not use protection when exposed to Leptospira. The adhesion to preventive chemoprophylaxis was 55.7%. Therefore doxycycline, under specific circunstances appears to be an effective alternative to protect against leptosprirosis infection. A large sample composed of individuals to adhere to preventive therapy is needed to define time, dosage and length of use of doxycycline in this area

Análise de volatilidade, integração de preços e previsibilidade para o mercado brasileiro de camarão

The present paper has the purpose of investigate the dynamics of the volatility structure in the shrimp prices in the Brazilian fish market. Therefore, a description of the initial aspects of the shrimp price series was made. From this information, statistics tests were made and selected univariate models to be price predictors. Then, it was verified the existence of relationship of long-term equilibrium between the Brazilian and American imported shrimp and if, confirmed the relationship, whether or not there is a causal link between these assets, considering that the two countries had presented trade relations over the years. It is presented as an exploratory research of applied nature with quantitative approach. The database was collected through direct contact with the Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo (CEAGESP) and on the official website of American import, National Marine Fisheries Service - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NMFS- NOAA). The results showed that the great variability in the active price is directly related with the gain and loss of the market agents. The price series presents a strong seasonal and biannual effect. The average structure of price of shrimp in the last 12 years was R$ 11.58 and external factors besides the production and marketing (U.S. antidumping, floods and pathologies) strongly affected the prices. Among the tested models for predicting prices of shrimp, four were selected, which through the prediction methodologies of one step forward of horizon 12, proved to be statistically more robust. It was found that there is weak evidence of long-term equilibrium between the Brazilian and American shrimp, where equivalently, was not found a causal link between them. We concluded that the dynamic pricing of commodity shrimp is strongly influenced by external productive factors and that these phenomena cause seasonal effects in the prices. There is no relationship of long-term stability between the Brazilian and American shrimp prices, but it is known that Brazil imports USA production inputs, which somehow shows some dependence productive. To the market agents, the risk of interferences of the external prices cointegrated to Brazilian is practically inexistent. Through statistical modeling is possible to minimize the risk and uncertainty embedded in the fish market, thus, the sales and marketing strategies for the Brazilian shrimp can be consolidated and widespread

Sensibilização e adaptação às alterações climáticas

As alterações climáticas impuseram modificações significativas na estrutura e dinâmica natural dos ecossistemas costeiros comprometendo as suas capacidades de resiliência cujos limites têm sido ultrapassados. A falta de políticas integradas de gestão territorial e adaptação às alterações climáticas intensificaram os riscos e vulnerabilidades sócio- ambientais em muitos espaços costeiros. Este trabalho foi realizado no município de Luanda onde a erosão, as inundações e os movimentos de massa são uma realidade cada vez mais preocupante. A metodologia de investigação para este trabalho contou com as consultas aos decisores políticos, população e ONGs presididas por inquéritos por questionário e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com primado para os aspectos qualitativos. As principais fontes de consulta foram as institucionais e os repositórios científicos de diversas universidades assim como a recolha bibliográfica. Os resultados obtidos apontam claramente para a falta de participação activa dos munícipes em processos de formação e tomada de iniciativas em sede de políticas ambientais, a gestão insustentável da zona costeira, o baixo grau de percepção ambiental e a falta de articulação integrada das instituições quanto ao ambiente.

Estudo paramétrico da recuperação de óleo no processo de drenagem gravitacional com injeção de CO2

The gas injection has become the most important IOR process in the United States. Furthermore, the year 2006 marks the first time the gas injection IOR production has surpassed that of steam injection. In Brazil, the installation of a petrochemical complex in the Northeast of Brazil (Bahia State) offers opportunities for the injection of gases in the fields located in the Recôncavo Basin. Field-scale gas injection applications have almost always been associated with design and operational difficulties. The mobility ratio, which controls the volumetric sweep, between the injected gas and displaced oil bank in gas processes, is typically unfavorable due to the relatively low viscosity of the injected gas. Furthermore, the difference between their densities results in severe gravity segregation of fluids in the reservoirs, consequently leading to poor control in the volumetric sweep. Nowadays, from the above applications of gas injection, the WAG process is most popular. However, in attempting to solve the mobility problems, the WAG process gives rise to other problems associated with increased water saturation in the reservoir including diminished gas injectivity and increased competition to the flow of oil. The low field performance of WAG floods with oil recoveries in the range of 5-10% is a clear indication of these problems. In order to find na effective alternative to WAG, the Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) was developed. This process is designed to take advantage of gravity force to allow vertical segregation between the injected CO2 and reservoir crude oil due to their density difference. This process consists of placing horizontal producers near the bottom of the pay zone and injecting gás through existing vertical wells in field. Homogeneous models were used in this work which can be extrapolated to commercial application for fields located in the Northeast of Brazil. The simulations were performed in a CMG simulator, the STARS 2007.11, where some parameters and their interactions were analyzed. The results have shown that the CO2 injection in GAGD process increased significantly the rate and the final recovery of oil

Análise paramétrica da simulação composicional do processo de Drenagem Gravitacional Assistida por Gás (GAGD)

In Brazil and around the world, oil companies are looking for, and expected development of new technologies and processes that can increase the oil recovery factor in mature reservoirs, in a simple and inexpensive way. So, the latest research has developed a new process called Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) which was classified as a gas injection IOR. The process, which is undergoing pilot testing in the field, is being extensively studied through physical scale models and core-floods laboratory, due to high oil recoveries in relation to other gas injection IOR. This process consists of injecting gas at the top of a reservoir through horizontal or vertical injector wells and displacing the oil, taking advantage of natural gravity segregation of fluids, to a horizontal producer well placed at the bottom of the reservoir. To study this process it was modeled a homogeneous reservoir and a model of multi-component fluid with characteristics similar to light oil Brazilian fields through a compositional simulator, to optimize the operational parameters. The model of the process was simulated in GEM (CMG, 2009.10). The operational parameters studied were the gas injection rate, the type of gas injection, the location of the injector and production well. We also studied the presence of water drive in the process. The results showed that the maximum vertical spacing between the two wells, caused the maximum recovery of oil in GAGD. Also, it was found that the largest flow injection, it obtained the largest recovery factors. This parameter controls the speed of the front of the gas injected and determined if the gravitational force dominates or not the process in the recovery of oil. Natural gas had better performance than CO2 and that the presence of aquifer in the reservoir was less influential in the process. In economic analysis found that by injecting natural gas is obtained more economically beneficial than CO2

Articulación de la gestión de riesgo a la ordenación territorial; caso de la provincia del Azuay

Este trabajo está enfocado al planteamiento y propuesta del modelo a considerar pretende abordar desde la periferia de la provincia del Azuay hacia su centro cantonal, buscando obtener un modelo mucho más cercano a una realidad general y las formas de actuación desde aquellos centros carentes de recursos hasta el mayor centro generador de los mismos. Se ha empezado abordando la problemática general de los riesgos que afectan en todo sentido a los seres humanos, que permitan definir sobre cuales se podrían actuar en la zona de estudio, para esto se determinó conceptualizaciones de territorio y riesgos como: caracterización de los fenómenos de riesgo en el Azuay en una perspectiva histórica; con énfasis en acontecimientos de magnitud en los últimos 25 años, definición de las tipologías de riesgos y conceptualizaciones de la Ordenación Territorial, para establecer la interrelación de conceptos y acciones que permita entender a la innovación como la capacidad de introducir nuevos métodos que apunten a mejorar las condiciones de competitividad del territorio, estudiando los posibles instrumentos de aplicación y la relación intrínseca con la administración pública. Finalmente se estableció un diagnóstico general de la provincia que permitió centrarse en tres fenómenos de riesgos: las fallas geológicas, las inundaciones y deslizamientos de masa, que se han convertido en los principales factores de afección. Con el marco teórico definido y el diagnostico establecido fue posible que en base a varios estudios preliminares en América Latina y Europa sobre situaciones de riesgos similares; se realice un planteamiento para enfrentar las situaciones de peligro de la Provincia, las alternativas de soluciones, de mitigaciones y prevención, que sumado a la gestión administrativa local y regional, permita establecer mecanismos estratégicos aplicables en las fases de la Ordenación Territorial. La propuesta plantea entre sus más importantes resultados: la administración responsable, ámbito temporal de validez de las acciones, establece modelos de ocupación inmediata de zonas seguras y ocupación diferida de áreas con riesgo aceptable, que hacen posible enfrentar estos fenómenos naturales y disminuir las pérdidas de vidas humanas.

Variação temporal da Comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos em um riacho intermitente do semiárido brasileiro

In Brazilian semiarid region, the majority of water bodies are temporary and the biodiversity in these ecosystems is poorly known. The goal of this study was to describe the temporal variation of benthic macroinvertebrates in an intermittent stream in the Brazilian semiarid region. From March to July of 2009, surveys of benthic macroinvertebrates and water physiochemical parameters were done in a first order stream located at Piranhas-Açu River basin. 25 macroinvertebrates families were found, 21 belonging to Insecta class. The chironomids were the most abundant group during all study period and were represented by 19 genus. The largest densities and taxonomic richness were seen in the drying phase of the stream while the smallest values were found in the period with the heaviest rainfalls ( wet phase ). Only the families Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae were found during all study period, suggesting that these groups have better adaptations to support floods and droughts. Furthermore, these two groups seemed to be pioneering in this stream. Among the chironomids, Paratendipes dominated the period of floods while Tanytarsus were more abundant in the drying phase . This study showed that hydrological fluctuation is the main force influencing the macroinvertebrate community in this stream, therefore, efforts seeking the conservation and management of Brazilian semiarid water bodies should consider this high natural variability in flow regime