The NASA Working Group on River and Wetland Hydrologic Processes
Abstract
A number of important science questions regarding hydrologic processes across rivers and wetlands remain unanswered primarily due to the inability of in-channel gauging stations to characterize spatially varying flow conditions and storage. A key example is the lack of in-situ measurements of water levels across a majority of the world's floodplains and wetlands. Non-channelized flow conditions across wetlands limit the effectiveness of singular gauging stations for measuring the changes in storage and related discharge. Instead, laterally-spatial measurements are required to characterize these hydrologic processes, rather than cross-sectional point observations. Remote sensing, therefore, should allow observation of floodplain and wetland processes not currently feasible with ground-based measurements. Lacking these observations, questions remain regarding the changes in wetland storage, the global magnitude of biogeochemical fluxes from wetlands, sediment transport between channels and floodplains, flooding hazards, and the role of these processes in the global hydrologic cycle. Fortunately, remote sensing has provided potential avenues toward answering these hydrologic questions. Among the most promising are active radar and lidar methods that measure inundation area, water heights, and changes. The global observations possible from such platforms will have important implications for global water cycle research. Our NASA working group invites participation from everyone interested in solving these questions.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AGUFM.H71E..02A
- Keywords:
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- 1821 Floods;
- 1836 Hydrologic budget (1655);
- 1860 Runoff and streamflow;
- 1890 Wetlands;
- 1894 Instruments and techniques