Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect

Spatio-temporal variability of turbidity in the Río de la Plata (RdP) estuary (Argentina) at seasonal and inter-annual timescales is analyzed from 15 years (2000–2014) of MODIS data and explained in terms of river discharges and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Satellite estimates were first...

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Autor principal: Dogliotti, Ana Ines
Publicado: 2016
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Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti
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spelling paper:paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti2025-07-30T18:03:16Z Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect Dogliotti, Ana Ines Bermejo ENSO MODIS Río de la Plata Turbidity annual variation El Nino El Nino-Southern Oscillation La Nina MODIS river discharge satellite data seasonal variation spatiotemporal analysis turbidity Argentina Bermejo Basin Rio de la Plata Spatio-temporal variability of turbidity in the Río de la Plata (RdP) estuary (Argentina) at seasonal and inter-annual timescales is analyzed from 15 years (2000–2014) of MODIS data and explained in terms of river discharges and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Satellite estimates were first validated using in situ turbidity measurements and then the time series of monthly averages were analyzed to assess the seasonal and inter-annual variability of turbidity. A strong seasonal variability was found in the upper and middle estuary with high turbidity from March to May and low turbidity from June to January. It was found that this variability is highly correlated to the seasonal cycle of the water discharge of the Bermejo river with a one-month delay between its peak and turbidity in the upper RdP estuary. On inter-annual time scales the influence of ENSO shows low turbidity amplitudes in the upper and middle estuary during moderate El Niño years, while the opposite pattern is observed in some La Niña years. A dilution effect during El Niño years is observed given that the main tributaries, which provide ∼92% of the liquid discharge, show water discharge increases due to excess in rain, while the Bermejo river, which provides ∼70% of the solid discharge and only 2% of the liquid discharge to the RdP, does not show this inter-decadal periodicity. In turn, increased turbidities are observed when negative RdP water discharge anomalies occurred, but this is not always related to La Niña events, since these events are not the only predictor for drought in this region. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd Fil:Dogliotti, A.I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. 2016 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Bermejo
ENSO
MODIS
Río de la Plata
Turbidity
annual variation
El Nino
El Nino-Southern Oscillation
La Nina
MODIS
river discharge
satellite data
seasonal variation
spatiotemporal analysis
turbidity
Argentina
Bermejo Basin
Rio de la Plata
spellingShingle Bermejo
ENSO
MODIS
Río de la Plata
Turbidity
annual variation
El Nino
El Nino-Southern Oscillation
La Nina
MODIS
river discharge
satellite data
seasonal variation
spatiotemporal analysis
turbidity
Argentina
Bermejo Basin
Rio de la Plata
Dogliotti, Ana Ines
Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
topic_facet Bermejo
ENSO
MODIS
Río de la Plata
Turbidity
annual variation
El Nino
El Nino-Southern Oscillation
La Nina
MODIS
river discharge
satellite data
seasonal variation
spatiotemporal analysis
turbidity
Argentina
Bermejo Basin
Rio de la Plata
description Spatio-temporal variability of turbidity in the Río de la Plata (RdP) estuary (Argentina) at seasonal and inter-annual timescales is analyzed from 15 years (2000–2014) of MODIS data and explained in terms of river discharges and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Satellite estimates were first validated using in situ turbidity measurements and then the time series of monthly averages were analyzed to assess the seasonal and inter-annual variability of turbidity. A strong seasonal variability was found in the upper and middle estuary with high turbidity from March to May and low turbidity from June to January. It was found that this variability is highly correlated to the seasonal cycle of the water discharge of the Bermejo river with a one-month delay between its peak and turbidity in the upper RdP estuary. On inter-annual time scales the influence of ENSO shows low turbidity amplitudes in the upper and middle estuary during moderate El Niño years, while the opposite pattern is observed in some La Niña years. A dilution effect during El Niño years is observed given that the main tributaries, which provide ∼92% of the liquid discharge, show water discharge increases due to excess in rain, while the Bermejo river, which provides ∼70% of the solid discharge and only 2% of the liquid discharge to the RdP, does not show this inter-decadal periodicity. In turn, increased turbidities are observed when negative RdP water discharge anomalies occurred, but this is not always related to La Niña events, since these events are not the only predictor for drought in this region. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd
author Dogliotti, Ana Ines
author_facet Dogliotti, Ana Ines
author_sort Dogliotti, Ana Ines
title Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
title_short Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
title_full Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
title_fullStr Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the Río de la Plata from 15 years of MODIS: El Niño dilution effect
title_sort seasonal and inter-annual turbidity variability in the río de la plata from 15 years of modis: el niño dilution effect
publishDate 2016
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_02727714_v182_n_p27_Dogliotti
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