干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In the Central Andes of Argentina (30-37 degrees S), snowmelt is the main source of freshwater, an essential natural resource for similar to 2.2 million people in the adjacent arid lowlands. In this region, Laguna Llancanelo collects the water inputs from the Malargue endorheic basin. Previous studies concerning the annual and intra-annual variations of this lagoon and its relationship with regional climate are rare. We obtained a monthly record for the Laguna Llancanelo area (LLA, 1984-2013) using the modified normalized difference water index derived from Landsat images. Monthly LLA ranges between 35 km(2) and 411km(2) and is significantly related to variations of the Rio Malargue, the main snow-fed tributary to the lagoon. There is no long-term relationship between LLA and local rainfall, but rapid increases in LLA result from heavy rainfall around the lagoon. Conversely, rapid reductions in LLA encompass periods with both reduced discharge from the Rio Malargue and low local rainfall. The LLA integrates moisture of both Pacific (snowfall in the upper Andes) and Atlantic (lowland rainfall) origins; therefore, we propose using LLA as an indicator of regional water balance.