Respuesta hidrológica del Bañado de Maldonado en la planicie costera del Río de la Plata: eventos extremos de abril de 2013

On April 2, 2013 unprecedented flash floods due to extreme rainfalls (approximately 400 mm in a few hours) occurred in La Plata and its surroundings causing loss of human live and great socioeconomic harm. The southeastern part of La Plata was an important flooded area. The lack of hydrological data at regional scale represents a significant constraint to the water management planning. This work aims to evaluate the hydrological response to the extreme precipitation events. Herein, we analyzed the satellite images acquired on April 5 (ASTER), April 9 (SPOT5), April 13 (Landsat7) and May 21, 2013 (SPOT5) and the topographical setting of the coastal plain. We suggest that the quantification of the evolution of the stored water in the low flooded areas of coastal plain is an indirect way to know the response of the coastal plain to the extreme precipitation events.