PatagoniaMet: A multi-source hydrometeorological dataset for Western Patagonia.

Western Patagonia (40-56°S) is a clear example of how the systematic lack of publicly available data and poor quality control protocols have hindered further hydrometeorological studies. To address these limitations, we present PatagoniaMet (PMET), a compilation of ground-based hydrometeorological data (PMET-obs; 1950-2020), and a daily gridded product of precipitation and temperature (PMET-sim; 1980-2020). PMET-obs was developed considering a 4-step quality control process applied to 523 hydrometeorological time series obtained from eight institutions in Chile and Argentina.

Chilean salmon farming vulnerability to external stressors: The COVID 19 as a case to test and build resilience.

This study addresses the risk and vulnerability of Chilean salmon production to hazards resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic threat, including limited access to farms, limited processing capacity and reduced market demand. The role of different management approaches in reducing risk and vulnerability is also explored. Results suggest that concession areas having the largest accumulated and current biomass have the highest risk, which is also transferred to the municipal level.

Hydrological droughts in the southern Andes (40-45°S) from an ensemble experiment using CMIP5 and CMIP6 models.

The decrease in freshwater input to the coastal system of the Southern Andes (40-45°S) during the last decades has altered the physicochemical characteristics of the coastal water column, causing significant environmental, social and economic consequences. Considering these impacts, the objectives were to analyze historical severe droughts and their climate drivers, and to evaluate the hydrological impacts of climate change in the intermediate future (2040-2070). Hydrological modelling was performed in the Puelo River basin (41°S) using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model.

Hydroclimatic conditions trigger record harmful algal bloom in western Patagonia (summer 2016).

A harmful algal bloom (HAB) of the raphidophyta alga Pseudochattonella cf. verruculosa during the 2016 austral summer (February-March) killed nearly 12% of the Chilean salmon production, causing the worst mass mortality of fish and shellfish ever recorded in the coastal waters of western Patagonia. The HAB coincided with a strong El Niño event and the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode that altered the atmospheric circulation in southern South America and the adjacent Pacific Ocean.

The combined impact of land use change and aquaculture on sediment and water quality in oligotrophic Lake Rupanco (North Patagonia, Chile, 40.8°S).

Water and sediment quality in North Patagonia's large, oligotrophic lakes are expected to suffer as native forest continues to be fragmented and degraded by its conversion to cropping and pasture land uses. These changes in land use are expected to increase diffuse nutrient loads to the region's lakes. In addition, these lakes are home to the world's second largest salmon aquaculture industry which provides additional point sources of nutrients within the lakes.