Most catchments were between the theoretical water and energy limits in
the Budyko space (dashed blue and red lines) for both classic and
adjusted Budyko framework as expected for natural catchments (Bouazizet al. , 2018) (Figure 4). In the energy limit zone (above red
dashed line), actual evapotranspiration (ET) is greater than potential
evapotranspiration (PET), and water discharge (Q) becomes negative in
the upper water limit (above blue dashed line). Considering the
topographic area (the classic Budyko framework, Figure 4a), we noted
that catchments with effective areas smaller than half of their
topographic areas (dark red circles) were placed near those limits,
remaining within the assumption of a closed water balance. In addition,
most of the others with effective areas larger than their topographic
areas (light and dark blue circles) distanced themselves from the Budyko
curve. Four catchments were located outside the Budyko space with
specific streamflow (Q) larger than precipitation (P). In turn, Q cannot
be larger than P assuming a closed water balance, which corroborates our
findings that these catchments have effective areas larger than the
topographic area.