Sea surface temperature (SST) and rainfall erosivity in the Upper Grande River Basin, southeast Brazil

Abstract

Relationships between regional climates and oceanic and atmospheric anomalies are important in understanding the rainfall regime of a given region. This work aimed to analyze rainfall erosivity in the Upper Grande River Basin, Southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil; namely the two most representative environments, the Mantiqueira Range (MR) and the Plateau of Campos das Vertentes (PCV). These areas can be affected by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, which can be evaluated by indicators such as Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for the Niño 3.4 Region. Rainfall erosivity was calculated for individual rainfall events from January, 2006 to December, 2010. Pearson's coefficient of correlation was used to evaluate the relationships between rainfall variables and SST. The coefficients of correlation were significant for both sub-regions. Correlations between the rainfall variables and negative oscillations of SST were also significant, especially in the MR sub-region, however, the Person's coefficients were lower than those obtained for the SST positive oscillations. These results demonstrate that El-Niño phenomenon can be considered an important factor in the intense rainfall behavior of the Upper Grande River Basin.