HR: 1400h
AN: H33A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Seasonal Evolution of Land Surface Conditions in the North American Monsoon Region from MODIS Observations
AU: * Mendez-Barroso, L A
EM: lmendez@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, United States
AU: Vivoni, E R
EM: vivoni@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, United States
AB: Satellite remote sensing offers the opportunity to measure diverse landscape properties over large, remote regions. In addition, remote sensing permits describing and quantifying spatial and spectral patterns which can be correlated with ancillary information over multiple time periods. For example, the MODIS sensor, on board the TERRA and AQUA satellites, provides global coverage of land surface dynamics, such as changes in vegetation cover and surface albedo, at a high spatial and temporal resolution. These dynamic processes are poorly understood in environments experiencing a dramatic response to seasonal precipitation caused by large scale monsoon systems. In the North American Monsoon (NAM), for example, there is ample evidence that significant vegetation changes occur after the monsoon onset. In this study, we utilize remote sensing techniques to determine the seasonal evolution of land surface conditions in the Río Sonora basin in northwestern Mexico. We focus our efforts on determining the spatial and temporal changes in vegetation indices (NDVI, EVI, LAI), surface albedo and land surface temperature. The seasonal and inter-annual evolution of these distributed land surface conditions is currently unknown. Nevertheless, these variables may play a crucial role in land- atmosphere interactions, with possible influences on convective precipitation. Our study correlates the remotely- sensed variables with precipitation and soil moisture observations at 16 continuous stations in the river basin. We also discuss the intra- and inter-annual variations of land processes, soil moisture and precipitation within different ecosystems. Finally, we describe evidence of observed processes that are characteristic of a vegetation- precipitation feedback mechanism in the region.
DE: 1813 Eco-hydrology
DE: 1843 Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1631, 3322)
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
DE: 1872 Time series analysis (3270, 4277, 4475)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly