Home on Iporã Brito Possantti

The era of communication

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The global risk

Once upon a time, information was a rare resource. Newspapers, TV anchors, and a few specialists told us what was happening. Manipulated? Often. But at the very least, it was curated.

Then came smartphones, social media, and the algorithmic machine of chaos. Suddenly, everyone became a broadcaster—from your uncle in the family WhatsApp group to youtubers who just discovered the word “hydrology” or the councilwoman who believes she understands something about hydraulics.

How to argue about the Guaíba

Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the previous post I evaluated how not to argue about the Guaíba, in the context of the discussion on whether this water body is a river or a lake. Following up, I will now move forward with the basic principles of a rational discussion on the subject, and why I understand the Guaíba to be a lake.

Read also: How not to argue about the Guaíba

Deductions, Gaúchos and controversies

The argumentative fallacies listed in the previous post are wrong because they violate the logic of deductive inference.

How not to argue about the Guaíba

Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Rio Grande do Sul is a place with a tradition of fierce polemics and divisions. This reflects the very low communication capacity of its people and should be no point of pride. These controversies have expanded even into scientific and technical aspects, such as the discussion over whether the Guaíba is a river or a lake.

In this case, I hold the opinion that it is a lake.

But before bringing more consistent points regarding this, I find it necessary to prepare the ground by reviewing how not to argue about the Guaíba.

Zenith

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’d rather hunt mammoths

If a genie in a lamp offered me a single wish, I would seriously consider transporting myself to the Neolithic. To practice hunting and gathering. To live in communion with a small tribe. Building temples for the gods in the spring, hunting mammoths in the summer, migrating to the forests in the winter.

In that era, the chance of dying torn apart by a saber-toothed tiger would be much higher. But at least it would be a life with a deeply human plot. And the fatal agony would last only a few minutes.

The physiology of nature

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hydrological endoscopy

In the last few days, I had to visit an otolaryngologist due to a persistent and mysterious sinusitis.

During the consultation, the doctor surprised me by inserting a small tube through my nose and instructed me to look at a screen. At that moment, I clearly saw the inside of my own pharynx — a sharp image of the ongoing infection, reddened and inflamed.

It was uncomfortable, revealing, and led me to take an antibiotic.

I think some water's coming down

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cinematic reality

I think some water’s coming down, eh

That is what I wrote on 29 April 2024, a year ago, in a WhatsApp group of professors and students from the Institute of Hydraulic Research (IPH). The group had been created in September 2023, in the context of the heavy floods that inundated cities in the Taquari River Valley.

This group became active again in November 2023, when other rains caused new floods, this time hitting Porto Alegre and the metropolitan region. On that occasion, I helped create material for the press, which was released to illustrate what would happen if a flood like the one in 1941 were to occur again, without the dyke protection system. It was featured in G1 and Correio do Povo.

The magic of water

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Wizard

Studying Hydrology (and hydrological models) during my PhD had a much greater impact on my firmest perceptions of reality than I ever imagined.

The main culprit for this wasn’t my colleagues or local professors at the IPH, but the articles and books of a certain British hydrologist, Keith Beven. This fellow, besides looking like a wizard of the Merlin or Gandalf variety, manages to make Hydrology a far more interesting (and mysterious) science than I had ever even considered.

A great project

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A callout motivation!

This project was a complex problem in catchment hydrology. Earum laudantium iste voluptates rerum placeat ipsum. Asperiores ducimus dolores rerum et dolor possimus sit nihil. Nam quae ex magnam. Vel minima animi quisquam sit. Earum laudantium iste voluptates rerum placeat ipsum.

Level gauges at Guaíba Lake. Ipanema, Winter 2019 — © Iporã Possantti

Context

The project addressed hydrological behavior in a catchment with recurring flood issues and limited prior analysis.

Resetting

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The ipoverse

Since 2007, I have been creating a fair number of blogs. None of them remained active for very long—perhaps three years at most.

In the beginning, some of the blogs I made were heavily focused on politics. Others were geared towards philosophies of life.

Others were thematic, such as one I wrote about Porto Alegre (which is still online here). In that one, every post was related to a Google Earth image.

Rich Content 2

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo ships with several Built-in Shortcodes for rich content, along with a Privacy Config and a set of Simple Shortcodes that enable static and no-JS versions of various social media embeds.

Rich Content 3

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo ships with several Built-in Shortcodes for rich content, along with a Privacy Config and a set of Simple Shortcodes that enable static and no-JS versions of various social media embeds.

Texto de Substituição

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Lorem est tota propiore conpellat pectoribus de pectora summo.

Emoji Support 2

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Emoji can be enabled in a Hugo project in a number of ways.

A comprehensive strategy for modeling watershed restoration priority areas under epistemic uncertainty: A case study in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A modelling framework for nature-based solutions expansion planning considering the benefits to downstream urban water users

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A synthesis on fundamental principles and problems in the use of hydrological models for planning watershed conservation

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why I work

Nature has always been a great source of inspiration for me. Natural environments attract me both through scientific curiosity and through personal and sublime experience. I see their elements not only as objects of study, but as systems with structure, rhythm, and beauty.

During my academic training in southern Brazil, I got involved in contexts where natural processes and human decisions intersected, such as wastewater treatment, urban development, watershed conservation, and, more recently, extreme flood events. These experiences revealed how scientific understanding can influence public debate and guide environmental planning decisions.

An integrated hydro-finance approach towards sustainable urban stormwater and flood control management

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

CHIRPS

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Equivalent biodiversity area: A novel metric for No Net Loss success in Brazil’s changing biomes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Evaluating the effectiveness of a stormwater wetland project in improving water quality and regulating streamflow in the Arroio do Salso - Porto Alegre/RS

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Integrating water charges policies and watershed plans for improved investment and financial sustainability in water resources management

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Planning the expansion of nature-based solutions for water considering the relationship between cost and benefit

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Services

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

How I work

I operate as an independent technical working unit, delivering high-quality outputs for addressing environmental problems.

My service system is structured around three core values: (1) well-defined scope, (2) predictable workflow, and; (3) standalone outputs.

Clients and collaborators can expect minimal coordination overhead.

Reach out: possantti@gmail.com | LinkedIn | ResearchGate | GitHub

Domains of my work

Applied Hydrology & Environmental Systems. Practical solutions in catchment hydrology, water resources engineering, environmental assessment, and geospatial analysis.

Sobre quatro princípios fundamentais para guiar o uso de modelos hidrológicos no mapeamento de área prioritárias em programas de revitalização de bacias hidrográficas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Technological Hazard Vulnerability: A GIS-Based Approach for Supporting Environmental Zoning

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The economic value of hydrometeorological information in the planning of large-Scale hydropower system operations

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The exceptional hydrological disaster of April-May 2024 in southern Brazil

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000