Published 2024-12-15
Keywords
- precipitation, natural hazard, flood, meteorology, basin.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The Upper Basin of the Chicamocha River (CARCh), with a length of 104 km, includes 24 municipalities in a space that provides development to Colombia's main economic lines. Located in the center of Boyacá in the eastern Andes mountain range, with a climate and soil mosaics conditioned by the water supply, the region is the axis of food security for the country. Thus, as the basin is influenced by climate change, it is also a dynamic agent of it, due to the anthropic practices that have been carried out since the last century.
As the CARCh is located in the equatorial zone, it is influenced by the Intertropical Confluence Zone (ITCZ), and by climate variability due to ENSO, this variability is reinforced by deforestation practices, increases in atmospheric emissions and in artificialized territories and changes in land use. This changes the behavior of meteorological variables that structure the normal hydrological cycle in the region. These changes, represented by positive anomalies in precipitation, transcend regionally by causing frequent and intense river flooding.
This study seeks to identify the climatic conditions of the last two decades and their relationship with the generation of floods in the CARCh, through interactive analysis of historical flood records provided by the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the Department of Boyacá and the rainfall, temperature and humidity data provided from 5 climatic stations of the Institute of Hydrology. Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM). What methodology allows studying the climatic characteristics and flood events in a basin?
It is a regional bimodal regime, with medium and high thermal amplitudes, with periods of significant flooding, especially during the La Niña phase, which not only affect some municipalities but the entire basin. It becomes the first and main methodological and information contribution for inhabitants, institutions, government and researchers. In addition, it serves as a practical reference to be implemented in other basins.