CARACTERIZAÇÃO ESPACIAL E MORFOMÉTRICA DA BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO GAVIÃO NO SUDOESTE DA BAHIA.

The availability of quality water for various activities has been decreasing across the planet, as a result of human actions and degrading natural events. In this context, it appears that river basins are considered the most appropriate units for managing natural resources in the ecosystem, as they present different landscape characteristics that influence the selection of soil and water management practices. To this end, knowledge about the hydrological behavior of the Gavião River Basin was used using orbital data and geoprocessing techniques together with statistical analyzes with the aim of characterizing the environment and morphometric characteristics. Analysis of the data and results obtained for the Gavião River Watershed allowed us to conclude that the organization of the drainage network has an area of approximately 10,112 km² and a perimeter of 781 km. The slope in the range 3-8% corresponds to 29.61% of the basin area, considered moderately inclined. The Gavião River was approximately 340 km long. According to the results, it can be stated that the study area appears to be less susceptible to flooding under normal precipitation conditions, that is, excluding events of abnormal intensities, due to the fact that the compactness coefficient presents a value far from of the unit and, regarding its form factor, display a low value. Thus, there is an indication that the basin does not have a circular shape, and therefore has a tendency towards an elongated shape. The data showed approximately 188% of the study area is covered by forest formation, 56.53% occupied by savanna formation, and 36.49% with the use of pasture. The information obtained enables decision-making for the conservation and adequate management of water resources in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]