HYDROLOGICAL INFERENCES FROM MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE SARAPUÍ RIVER WATERSHED

The sustainable management of watersheds is based on protecting their water resources and maintaining and enhancing the ecosystem services they promote. In this context, obtaining information about the drainage network and the land arrangement is of paramount importance for the development of public policies and for aiding decision-making. The morphometric analysis of a watershed allows obtaining physiographic information of great relevance regarding its hydrological behavior and response capacity in rainy events, and its analysis potential increases daily with the increase in the analysis and detailing capacity provided by technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS). In this work, the linear (stream order, stream number, and bifurcation ratio), areal (elongation ratio, form factor, compacity coefficient, stream frequency, and drainage density), and relief (altitude, slope) morphometric parameters were evaluated to the Sarapuí River Watershed, using RS images on a GIS environment. The watershed presented an elongated shape, reducing the susceptibility to flooding, moderate hydrological response to rainy events, and a good permeability surface, despite having a region where higher altitude spots are concentrated and associated with high slopes. The information gathered in this study provides an initial guideline from a hydrological point of view for the sustainable management of the Sarapuí River Watershed and is likely to be replicated in other watersheds and locations.