HR: 0800h
AN: H31F-0732    [Abstracts]
TI: Quantifying Wetland Dynamics and Hydrologic Function with Landsat Thematic Mapper
AU: * Rover, J A
EM: jrover@usgs.gov
AF: SAIC, contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, 47914 252nd St, Sioux Falls, SD 57198, United States
AU: Wright, C
EM: chwright@usgs.gov
AF: Independant contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, 47914 252nd St, Sioux Falls, SD 57198, United States
AU: Wylie, B K
EM: wylie@usgs.gov
AF: SAIC, contractor to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, 47914 252nd St, Sioux Falls, SD 57198, United States
AU: Euliss, N H
EM: ceuliss@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, 8711 37th St SE, Jamestown, ND 58401, United States
AB: The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America spans the glaciated prairies from Alberta, Canada, to central Iowa. The region contains hundreds of thousands of wetlands that provide habitat for an estimated 50 to 80 percent of North America's waterfowl. The composition of species that use the PPR are a function of wetland water chemistry. The water chemistry is driven by wetland functional processes that determine hydrogeochemical interactions of surface water, ground water, and their connectivity to other wetlands. As wetlands cycle from drought to deluge, significant surface water fluctuations can alter water chemistry and hydroperiods, influencing the composition of wetland communities. We quantified these temporal water dynamics with Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery, spanning a 17-year period during a drought-deluge cycle. Using clustering techniques, we grouped wetlands based on their functional responses to climate and quantified the traits of each cluster. We found that wetlands receiving groundwater discharge respond very differently to climatic shifts than wetlands functioning as recharge basins. In addition, wetlands with closed basins are less dynamic than wetlands located in open basins. Accuracies of the initial classification ranged from 75 to 100 percent. This study offers the first insight into wetland dynamics at a regional scale with implications for modeling biogeochemistry and ecosystem services across the PPR. Although this method was developed in the Missouri Coteau and nearby drift plains of the PPR, we believe this technique is applicable to other regions.
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1819 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
DE: 1830 Groundwater/surface water interaction
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 1890 Wetlands (0497)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting