Use of South American Land Data Assimilation System (SALDAS) to Assess Impacts of Biofuel Expansion on Water Resources in Brazil
Abstract
Large scale expansion of sugarcane production in Brazil is very positive in terms of biofuels and greenhouse gases; however, potential impacts on water resources are uncertain. The objective of this analysis is to assess potential impacts of biofuel expansion in Central South Brazil on water resources using the South American Land Data Assimilation System (SALDAS). SALDAS is driven by 3 hourly atmospheric forcing. Limited surface observations have resulted in use of remotely sensed data merged with surface observations to calculate precipitation and shortwave radiation fields. SALDAS simulates partitioning of water and energy in response to spatiotemporal variability in climate forcing and land use change related to biofuel expansion. The impacts of land use changes related to biofuel expansion will be examined by evaluating water and energy fluxes in areas of different land use and substituting space for time. Output from SALDAS will be compared with coarser resolution Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and other more traditional modeling approaches, such as CROPWAT, to estimate changes in water use from biofuel expansion. Land surface models provide an excellent reconnaissance tool to better understand the hydrology of regional systems in response to climate and land use in data constrained regions.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.H53J..04G
- Keywords:
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- 1847 HYDROLOGY Modeling;
- 1880 HYDROLOGY Water management