Water Balance and Climate of the Ipojuca River Water Basin – Pernambuco, Brazil

The objective is to carry out the analysis of the climatic water balance and make a comparison between the municipalities surrounding the Ipojuca River basin, using the applications of climatic indices and aridity. The study area is the Ipojuca River – Pernambuco river basin, made up of twenty-seven municipalities. The rainfall data were provided by the Water and Climate Agency of the State of Pernambuco and thermal data were estimated by the Estima_T software corresponding to the years 1962 to 2018. For the climatic and agricultural suitability analysis, climatic indices of aridity and water availability were applied to the vegetation. The aridity index was calculated using the UNEP formulation, the climatic classifications, using the aridity index or dry month, recommended by Gaussen. Municipalities with higher altitudes provide conditions for better natural development of vegetation followed by greater potential for the development of agricultural activities, when compared to municipalities at lower altitudes. A marked change was observed between the climatic conditions of municipalities with high and low altitudes in the basin area, with emphasis on water deficits and high temperatures. Marked disputes between climate variability in municipalities at higher and lower altitudes were recorded in water deficits and inter-municipal thermal fluctuations.