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Multi-temporal scale of urban rainfall in the Eastern Northeast based on observed data and gridded products: physiographic factors and changes in land use and occupation
Author(s)
da Silva, Luis Felipe Francisco Ferreira
de Oliveira Romão, William Max
Lyra, Gustavo Bastos
da Silva, Elania Barros
da Silva Costa, Micejane
Mendes, David
Shah, Munawar
Shahzad, Rasim
Silva, Danilo Siden Batista Santos
Tenório, Mônica Dayana Albuquerque
Barbosa, Ricardo Victor Rodrigues
Singh, Sudhir Kumar
Cardoso, Kelvy Rosalvo Alencar
de Oliveira Júnior, José Francisco
Date Issued
February 1, 2026
Type
Article
Abstract
Rainfall is one of the most important meteorological variables in the daily lives of urban populations. The city of Maceió, the capital of Alagoas, located in the eastern part of the Northeast of Brazil (ENEB), has 50 neighborhoods and a population of approximately one million people, with few studies on the subject. The objectives were: (i) to validate the CHIRPS product; (ii) to identify the preferential rainfall periods in Maceió via GIS; (iii) to map areas for the installation of in situ stations in the city with the aim of supporting the prevention of hydrometeorological disasters; and (iv) creation of a theoretical-conceptual rainfall model. The statistical indicators (R², ρ, BIAS, MAPE and RMSE) were used to validate the gridded precipitation product CHIRPS from 11 CEMADEN rain gauge stations. Monthly rain occurrence maps via Spline tension were developed by QGIS (Quantum GIS) software. The HAND model was applied at neighborhood level for the assessment of urban floods. Waterborne disease data were obtained from SINAN, Natural Disaster data via S2iD from the period 2000 to 2023, and the NDVI and EVI indices in the years 2015 and 2022 were evaluated in the study. All stations were monotonically positive (ρ > 0.65) and significant (p-value < 0.001), indicating that CHIRPS is able to capture rainfall variability despite the influences of the coast, Lagoa Mundaú, and topography. Most stations showed underestimation (negative BIAS) and lower errors (MAE and RMSE). Spatially, the increase in rainfall on the coastal plateau is due to the interaction of the wind regime with the relief, driven by the circulation of breezes and the influence of trade winds. The preferential rainfall period occurs between 04:00 am and 07:00 am. The HAND model identified very high and high susceptibility, mainly on the coast, in areas adjacent to Lagoa Mundaú, and in neighborhoods crossed by rivers and urban canals, and low susceptibility in densely populated neighborhoods. Waterborne diseases together with transformations via NDVI and EVI indicated that rainfall amplifies risk scenarios for the most vulnerable and densely populated populations. In light of this, it is perceived that the rainfall patterns in Maceió are due to the interaction of physiographic and/or anthropogenic factors and meteorological systems – theoretical-conceptual model – which requires improvements in infrastructure and an active monitoring system.
Citation
Natural Hazards, 122(4), 2026