Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Tropical Andes

Are investigated climate change impacts on glacier melt discharge in the tropical Andes given its relevance to water resources. The means are the investigation of net radiation and potential glacier melt trends. For such purposes is assessed the investigation of the Surface and Energy Balance algorithm (SEBAL) performance, and is carried a practical application to establish the relevance of the net radiation trends investigation. The latter mentioned application assesses the investigation of climate change impacts on the glacier melt discharge in the Zongo glacier (Andes in Bolivia), and the consequences on hydropower generation for the period 2004-2007. Under and adequate SEBAL performance (Root Mean Square Error for albedo estimations are 0.15 in average), the melt from the studied glacier in the period 2004-2007 is estimated to produce a maximum potential energy of 3.1 [MW h] in average per day (dry season). Three out of four contributors to the Zongo hydropower system are constituted by ice massifs, which suggests that a negative impact should be expected on the energy production of the Zongo power plant even under an stagnating net radiation trend scenario.