title: Carbon dioxide emissions from Tucuruí reservoir (Amazon biome): New findings based on three-dimensional ecological model simulations.
abstract: We used a three-dimensional model to assess the dynamics of diffusive carbon dioxide flux (F(CO2)) from a hydroelectric reservoir located at Amazon rainforest. Our results showed that for the studied periods (2013 summer/wet and winter/dry seasons) the surface averaged F(CO2) presented similar behaviors, with regular emissions peaks. The mean daily surface averaged F(CO2) showed no significant difference between the seasons (p>0.01), with values around -1338mg Cm-2day-1 (summer/wet) and -1395mg Cm-2day-1 (winter/dry). At diel scale, the F(CO2) was large during the night and morning and low during the afternoon in both seasons. Regarding its spatial distribution, the F(CO2) showed to be more heterogeneous during the summer/wet than during the winter/dry season. The highest F(CO2) were observed at transition zone (-300mg Cm-2h-1) during summer and at littoral zone (-55mg Cm-2h-1) during the winter. The total CO2 emitted by the reservoir along 2013 year was estimated to be 1.1Tg C year-1. By extrapolating our results we found that the total carbon emitted by all Amazonian reservoirs can be around 7Tg C year-1, which is 22% lower than the previous published estimate. This significant difference should not be neglected in the carbon inventories since the carbon emission is a key factor when comparing the environmental impacts of different sources of electricity generation and can influences decision makers in the selection of the more appropriate source of electricity and, in case of hydroelectricity, the geographical position of the reservoirs.
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: mpedroso@dsr.inpe.br.
authors.forename: Marcelo Pedroso
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Curtarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA. Electronic address: igoroga@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ogashawara
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: carlos@dsr.inpe.br.
authors.forename: Carlos Alberto Sampaio
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: de Araújo
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: loren@dsr.inpe.br.
authors.forename: João Antônio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lorenzzetti
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: joaquim@dpi.inpe.br.
authors.forename: Joaquim Antônio Dionísio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leão
authors.affiliation: Department of Cartography, São Paulo State University, 19060900 Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: enner@fct.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Enner
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alcântara
authors.affiliation: Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, 12227010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: stech@dsr.inpe.br.
authors.forename: José Luiz
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Stech
keywords: Amazon biome; Carbon dioxide; Greenhouse gases emission; Hydroelectric reservoirs; Numerical modeling