hydroToolkit and HBV.IANIGLA: two R packages for hydrological studies in the Andes

Abstract

In many parts of the world mountains are essential sources of fresh water and the principal component for ecosystems conservation and socioeconomic development (Mariano H. Masiokas et al., 2006; Viviroli & Weingartner, 2004). In the west of Argentina, it is an essential resource for crop irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, hydro-power generation and environmental equilibrium. Argentina has a mountain range that extends more than 3000 km long and many populations in the lowlands that are directly or indirectly influenced by the availability of mountain freshwater; despite this there are only a few scientific hydro-climatic studies in the Andes (M. H. Masiokas et al., 2020; Villalba et al., 2003). In order to afford this kind of research I developed two R packages that are available on CRAN: hydroToolkit and HBV.IANIGLA. The former is a software for regional hydro-meteorological data management (Argentina and Chile), and the last one is an hydrological model suited for working in Andean catchments (e.g.: incorporates a glacier module)