Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns
ABSTRACT Because it is assumed that the impacts in the natural streamflow regime promoted by Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) are negligible, environmental licensing for such facilities is usually easier. Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that the operation of SHPs may disturb the natural flow con...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos
2019-07-01
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Series: | Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos |
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Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312019000100231&tlng=en |
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author | Rafael Pedrollo de Paes Veber Afonso Figueiredo Costa Wilson dos Santos Fernandes |
author_facet | Rafael Pedrollo de Paes Veber Afonso Figueiredo Costa Wilson dos Santos Fernandes |
author_sort | Rafael Pedrollo de Paes |
collection | DOAJ |
description | ABSTRACT Because it is assumed that the impacts in the natural streamflow regime promoted by Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) are negligible, environmental licensing for such facilities is usually easier. Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that the operation of SHPs may disturb the natural flow conditions, mainly when the plants are placed in a cascade arrangement. In this context, the main objective of this study is investigating the alterations in flows periodic behavior in a system of six hydropower plants, being five of them SHPs. Daily discharge time series were extracted from eight streamflow gauging stations located in the Jauru River catchment, Brazil, whose period-of-record spans from May/2016 to Aug/2017. By using the wavelet transform, dominant cycles along the time series were identified and their coherence in nearby stations was compared. Among the results, one may observe that, from upstream to downstream, the high frequency cycles became more important whereas the low frequency ones have weakened. Additional analyses indicate that such alterations are not directly related to meteorological factors or to the gradual increasing in the catchment’s drainage area in the downstream direction, which suggests that the operation of SHPs may affect the streamflow natural cycles. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:26:17Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-e457a05cc5b842e4968e540a3cae4a15 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2318-0331 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:26:17Z |
publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
publisher | Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos |
record_format | Article |
series | Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos |
spelling | doaj.art-e457a05cc5b842e4968e540a3cae4a152022-12-22T04:16:14ZengAssociação Brasileira de Recursos HídricosRevista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos2318-03312019-07-012410.1590/2318-0331.241920180140Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patternsRafael Pedrollo de Paeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3216-8951Veber Afonso Figueiredo Costahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3848-2098Wilson dos Santos Fernandeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9731-2320ABSTRACT Because it is assumed that the impacts in the natural streamflow regime promoted by Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) are negligible, environmental licensing for such facilities is usually easier. Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that the operation of SHPs may disturb the natural flow conditions, mainly when the plants are placed in a cascade arrangement. In this context, the main objective of this study is investigating the alterations in flows periodic behavior in a system of six hydropower plants, being five of them SHPs. Daily discharge time series were extracted from eight streamflow gauging stations located in the Jauru River catchment, Brazil, whose period-of-record spans from May/2016 to Aug/2017. By using the wavelet transform, dominant cycles along the time series were identified and their coherence in nearby stations was compared. Among the results, one may observe that, from upstream to downstream, the high frequency cycles became more important whereas the low frequency ones have weakened. Additional analyses indicate that such alterations are not directly related to meteorological factors or to the gradual increasing in the catchment’s drainage area in the downstream direction, which suggests that the operation of SHPs may affect the streamflow natural cycles.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312019000100231&tlng=enStreamflow periodicityWavelet transformSmall dam impactsRun-of-river power plantTime series analysis |
spellingShingle | Rafael Pedrollo de Paes Veber Afonso Figueiredo Costa Wilson dos Santos Fernandes Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos Streamflow periodicity Wavelet transform Small dam impacts Run-of-river power plant Time series analysis |
title | Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
title_full | Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
title_fullStr | Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
title_short | Effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
title_sort | effects of small hydropower plants in cascade arrangement on the discharge cyclic patterns |
topic | Streamflow periodicity Wavelet transform Small dam impacts Run-of-river power plant Time series analysis |
url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2318-03312019000100231&tlng=en |
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