HR: 10:30h
AN: NB52D-01 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: New Contributions of Remote Sensing and Spatial Data Analysis to Understanding Tropical Floodplain Ecosystems
AU: * Hamilton, S K
EM: hamilton@kbs.msu.edu
AF: Michigan State University, Kellogg Biological Station, 3700 E. Gull Lake Drive, Hickory Corners, MI 49060 United States
AB: Extensive floodplains subject to seasonal inundation are found across lowland South America. A few well-studied locations demonstrate how inundation hydrology is a key driver of ecological characteristics of these floodplains. Until recently, the inundation patterns of these vast and often remote floodplains had to be inferred from river stage records. Advances in spaceborne remote sensing and spatial data analysis are now contributing hydrological and geomorphological information of unprecedented detail. This talk highlights examples of remote sensing studies in the Orinoco, Amazon, and Parana/Paraguay river basins that have produced information with direct applications to ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry, and conservation planning. Remote sensing examples include Landsat, passive microwave emission, synthetic aperture radar, and elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Spatial data analysis examples include hydrological modeling in GIS and object-oriented image analysis. The growing potential of these tools is just beginning to be exploited to better understand, manage, and protect these ecosystems.
DE: 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly