Open AccessLong-term hydrological monitoring in arid-semiarid Almería, SE Spain. What have we learned?
Author(s) -
Emilio RodríguezCaballero,
Roberto Lázaro,
Yolanda Cantón,
Juan Puigdefábregas,
Albert SoléBenet
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
cuadernos de investigación geográfica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1697-9540
pISSN - 0211-6820
DOI - 10.18172/cig.3462
Subject(s) - arid , precipitation , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , term (time) , physical geography , geography , geology , meteorology , paleontology , physics , geotechnical engineering , quantum mechanics
A combination of high temporal variability and spatial heterogeneity of rainfall, soil surfaces, and plant cover is the cause of the complex hydrological response in arid/semiarid regions. Under these premises, long-term monitoring is necessary to capture drivers controlling the response of these areas and to be able to model and predict their reaction. A succinct, up-to-date review of the databases and results produced by two representative micro-catchments in the most arid extreme of Europe, Almería (SE Spain), is presented with the aim to show how the different precipitation patterns, during a 20-year period, influence the hydrological behavior on different lithologies and soil surfaces. The problems encountered about the functioning of these experimental stations, including the generation and maintenance of long-term databases, is also reviewed.