Evaluation of water resources in a high-mountain basin in Serra da Estrela, Central Portugal, using a semi-distributed hydrological model

High-mountain basins provide a source of valuable water resources. This paper presents hydrological models for the evaluation of water resources in the highmountain Zezere river basin in Serra da Estrela, Central Portugal. Models are solved with VISUAL BALAN v2.0, a code which performs daily water balances in the root zone, the unsaturated zone and the aquifer and requires a small number of parameters. A lumped hydrological model failsto fit measured stream flows. Its limitations are overcome by considering the dependence of the temperature and precipitation data with elevation and the spatial variability in hydrogeomorphological variables with nine sub-basins of uniform parameters. Model parameters are calibrated by fitting stream flow measurements in the Zezere river. Computed stream flows are highly sensitive to soil thickness, whereas computed groundwater recharge is most sensitive to the interflow and percolation recession coefficients. Interflow is the main component of total runoff, ranging from 41 to 55% of annual precipitation. High interflows are favored by the steep relief of the basin, by the presence of a high permeability soil overlying the fractured low permeability granitic bedrock and by the extensive subhorizontal fracturing at shallow depths. Mean annual groundwater recharge ranges from 11 to 15% of annual precipitation. It has a significant uncertainty due to uncertainties in soil parameters. This methodology proves to be useful to handle the research difficulties regarding a complex mountain basin in a context of data scarcity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thesaurus Português-Inglês; Inglês-Português

A terminologia (thesaurus) pressupõe uma conceptualização prévia baseada num método rigoroso, coerente e completo (metodologia)

Hydrogeology of hard-rocks in the Portuguese Iberian Massif : Porto urban area and Serra da Estrela mountain region

An integrated multidisciplinary approach will be adopted in order to carry out a broad characterisation of the groundwater in the Porto urban area and Serra da Estrela mountain region (Iberian Massif, Northern and Central Portugal). Such an approach will contribute to improve groundwater management and protection, under the sustainability framework. Research will include the following main tasks: a) presentation of a geologic, morphotectonic, hydrologic and climatic outline; b) hydrogeologic inventorying and definition of a network of surface and ground water monitoring points; c) fieldwork campaigns, in order to collect water samples for chemical and isotopic analysis

Hydrogeological study of A High Mountain Area (Serra da Estrela, Central Portugal) : a multidisciplinary approach : uma abordagem multidisciplinar

The results of a preliminary hydrogeological study of the river Zêzere catchment upstream of Manteigas (Serra da Estrela Natural Park, Central Portugal) are presented. In this mountain region, different types of groundwater and surface water (used in several economic activities) occur. The methodology adopted in this study emphasizes the way how Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Soil Science and Hydrogeology contribute to the description of the hydrological phenomena taking place in the catchment, such as infiltration and aquifer recharge and groundwater flow and geochemistry - allowing to develop better hydrogeologic conceptual models. The hydrological modelling in course includes the use of the VISUAL BALAN code, which is being coupled to a GIS. The hydrogeochemical techniques are highlighted as well as its preliminary results concerning major and minor elements. The thermomineral water study includes the identification of the reservoir’s geologic material, the characterization of water-rock interaction and geothermometry