HR: 0800h
AN: H31A-0121    [Abstracts]
TI: Using LandSat and SRTM datasets to develop relationships for estimating bankfull channel widths in the Amazon Basin
AU: * Gummadi, V
EM: venkatgummadi@yahoo.com
AF: San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, United States
AU: He, Y
EM: yhe@mail.sdsu.edu
AF: San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, United States
AU: Beighley, E R
EM: beighley@mail.sdsu.edu
AF: San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, United States
AB: Modeling fine scale spatial and temporal processes of the hydrologic cycle over continental to global extents is vital for assessing the potential impacts of climate and land use change on global water resources and related systems. Significant advancement in understanding and predicting the magnitude, trend, timing and partitioning of terrestrial water stores and fluxes requires the development of methodologies and knowledge for extracting representative hydraulic geometries from remote sensing data products and field data, suitable for estimating inundation characteristics and water storage changes which are limited for much of the globe. In this research, relationships between channel and floodplain widths and spatial drainage characteristics are developed for the Amazon Basin. Channel and floodplain widths were measured using SRTM data and LandSat TM/ETM imagery at 510 sites. The study sites were selected based on the Pfafstetter decomposition methodology which provides an irregular model grid based on repeatedly subdividing landscape units into nine subunits consisting of basins and interbasins. The selected sites encompass all possible combinations of Pfafstetter modeling units (ex., basins of interbasins, interbasins of basins, etc.). The 510 study sites are within the Amazon Basin with drainage areas ranging 10 to 5.4 million sq km and mean watershed ground slopes ranging from 0.4 and 30 percent. Preliminary results indicate that channel widths can be predicted using drainage area and mean watershed slope (R2 = 0.85). Floodplain widths can be predicted using channel width and the local slope (R2 = 0.70). Using the Purus watershed, a sub-basin to the Amazon (350,000 sq km), effects of channel and floodplain widths on simulated hydrographs are presented.
UR: http://spatialhydro.sdsu.edu
DE: 1805 Computational hydrology
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 1856 River channels (0483, 0744)
DE: 1879 Watershed
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting