Surface Freshwater Storage Variations in the Orinoco Floodplains Using Multi-Satellite Observations

Remote Sensing

Frຝéric Frappart³  Fabrice Papa⁷  Yoann Malbeteau²  Juan Gabriel León⁵  Guillaume Ramillien³  Catherine Prigent¹  Luc໚ Seoane³  Frຝérique Seyler⁴  Stéphane Calmant⁷  Alisa L. Gallant⁶  Richard Gloaguen⁶ 

[1] LERMA, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, 75000 Paris, France; E-Mail:;CESBIO, UMR 5126, CNES/CNRS/IRD/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France; E-Mail:;GET-GRGS, UMR 5563, CNRS/IRD/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France; E-Mails:;ESPACE-DEV, UMR 228, IRD/UAG/UM2/UR, 34961 Montpellier, France; E-Mail:;Facultad de Ingeniería y Administración, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Palmira 76520000, Colombia; E-Mail:GET-GRGS, UMR 5563, CNRS/IRD/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France;;LEGOS-GRGS, UMR 5566, CNES/CNRS/IRD/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France; E-Mails:

关键词: Orinoco;    floodplains;    surface water storage;    multi-satellite observations;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs70100089

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Variations in surface water extent and storage are poorly characterized from regional to global scales. In this study, a multi-satellite approach is proposed to estimate the water stored in the floodplains of the Orinoco Basin at a monthly time-scale using remotely-sensed observations of surface water from the Global Inundation Extent Multi-Satellite (GIEMS) and stages from Envisat radar altimetry. Surface water storage variations over 2003–2007 exhibit large interannual variability and a strong seasonal signal, peaking during summer, and associated with the flood pulse. The volume of surface water storage in the Orinoco Basin was highly correlated with the river discharge at Ciudad Bolivar (R = 0.95), the closest station to the mouth where discharge was estimated, although discharge lagged one month behind storage. The correlation remained high (R = 0.73) after removing seasonal effects. Mean annual variations in surface water volume represented ~170 km³, contributing to ~45% of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)-derived total water storage variations and representing ~13% of the total volume of water that flowed out of the Orinoco Basin to the Atlantic Ocean.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.