Climatic Variability Effects on the Vegetation State and Water Coverage in a Watershed of Temperate Climate (Argentina)

The study area is located in the south of the Buenos Aires province (Argentina) and it is included in the “Región Pampeana” argentina. It is characterized by a template climate. The aim of this work was quantify the extreme climatic events effects on vegetation state and area covered by water, in a watershed of a template climate (Napostá Chico creek). The study period was 2000-2013. The methodology included the analysis of Standardized PrecipitationEvapotranspiration Index (SPEI) in 3 temporal scales (1, 3 and 12 months) in order to detect the extreme climatic events. Several land covers were defined by visual interpretation of satellite image and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) application. Landsat 5 TM and 7 ETM+ satellite images were processed for water bodies delineation. The extreme events were defined during 2001 and 2004 (wet years), 2008 and 2009 (dry years) and 2007 (normal year). As a result, state of vegetation and area covered by water showed variations among extreme events. Knowledge about climatic vulnerability of the watershed and the extreme events occurrence is essential for the hydric resources management and economic activities of the study region.