Abstract's details
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES of the 2014 FLOOD on the MADEIRA RIVER
CoAuthors
Event: 2017 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: Science IV: 25 years of satellite altimetry for Cryosphere and Hydrology: from experimental to emerging operational applications
Presentation type: Type Poster
Contribution: not provided
Abstract:
In this study, we present an application of altimetry for the evaluation of the upstream impact of a dam reservoir.
In 2014, the Brazilian Madeira river and some of its tributary flowing in Bolivia experienced a major flood, from the city of Porto Velho (Brazil), upstream. Because this flood occured both in Brazil and in Bolivia right after the start of operation of the Jau dam (located at Porto velho in Brazil), a dispute started between Brazil and Bolivia upon the role played by the dam reservoir in the flooding. By the analysis of the altimetry data in the Madeira bassin upstream Porto Velho, a poorly monitored watershed in particular in its Bolivian part, we mapped the extend of the dam reservoir prior the flood. Then, we show that during the flood, tributary reaches were affected by higher-than-normal water levels upstream the bent in surface water line delineating the dam reservoir. Consequently, the dam reservoir does not seem to be responsible of the inundations in Bolivia.
In 2014, the Brazilian Madeira river and some of its tributary flowing in Bolivia experienced a major flood, from the city of Porto Velho (Brazil), upstream. Because this flood occured both in Brazil and in Bolivia right after the start of operation of the Jau dam (located at Porto velho in Brazil), a dispute started between Brazil and Bolivia upon the role played by the dam reservoir in the flooding. By the analysis of the altimetry data in the Madeira bassin upstream Porto Velho, a poorly monitored watershed in particular in its Bolivian part, we mapped the extend of the dam reservoir prior the flood. Then, we show that during the flood, tributary reaches were affected by higher-than-normal water levels upstream the bent in surface water line delineating the dam reservoir. Consequently, the dam reservoir does not seem to be responsible of the inundations in Bolivia.