Annual precipitation assessment in the Brazilian savanna (2000 – 2010) based on TRMM satellite data at the scale of regional watersheds

In this study, a TRMM_based temporal analysis of precipitation (2000 to 2010), at the watershed scale, was conducted in the pursuit of understanding annual and seasonal precipitation trends relatively to major conversion patterns in the Brazilian savanna biome. It could be observed a significant difference in terms of mean precipitation between conservation scenarios and, mostly important, smaller variations in annual precipitation over the less converted watersheds. Our results corroborate the importance of maintaining the natural vegetation cover at different watershed hierarchical levels, as well as the potential of coarse satellite precipitation data for regional assessments of land-cover changes and related impacts.