Abstract
Seasonally varying inundation extent and duration are key properties of wetlands, but are poorly quantified, particularly in tropical, boreal, and coastal regions. Optical sensors such as Landsat are limited by cloud cover, although sensors such as MODIS, with high repeat frequency, partly compensate for this limitation. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors are insensitive to cloud cover, and at longer wavelengths (C-band and L-band) are capable of detecting water beneath vegetation canopies. Time series of SAR data are effective for monitoring seasonal inundation dynamics, and combinations of different SAR wavelengths and polarizations can discriminate vegetation structure. Optical, SAR, and passive microwave sensors are being employed at global scale to characterize the role of wetlands in global hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alsdorf DE, Melack JM, Dunne T, Mertes LAK, Hess LL, Smith LC. Interferometric radar measurements of water level changes on the Amazon flood plain. Nature. 2000;404:174–7.
Alsdorf DE, Bates P, Melack J, Wilson M, Dunne T. The spatial and temporal complexity of the Amazon flood measured from space. Geophys Res Lett. 2007;34(L08402):1–5.
Alsdorf D, Han SC, Bates P, Melack J. Seasonal water storage on the Amazon floodplain measured from satellites. Remote Sens Environ. 2010;114(11):2448–56.
Alsdorf D, Lettenmaier D, Vörösmarty C. The need for global, satellite-based observations of terrestrial surface waters. Eos. 2003;84(269):275–6.
Andersen R, Poulin M, Borcard D, Laiho R, Laine J, Vasander H, Tuittila ET. Environmental control and spatial structures in peatland vegetation. J Veg Sci. 2011;22:878–90. doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2011.01295.x.
Arnesen AS, Silva TS, Hess LL, Novo EM, Rudorff CM, Chapman BD, McDonald KC. Monitoring flood extent in the lower Amazon River floodplain using ALOS/PALSAR ScanSAR images. Remote Sens Environ. 2013;130:51–61. ISSN:0034-4257, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.035.
Bridgham SD, Cadillo-Quiroz H, Keller JK, Zhuang Q. Methane emissions from wetlands: biogeochemical, microbial, and modeling perspectives from local to global scales. Global Change Biol. 2013;19(5):1325–46.
Chapman B, Blom RG. Synthetic aperture radar, technology, past and future applications to archaeology. In: Mapping archaeological landscapes from space. New York: Springer; 2013. p. 113–31.
Chen Y, Huang C, Ticehurst C, Merrin L, Thew P. An evaluation of MODIS daily and 8-day composite products for floodplain and wetland inundation mapping. Wetlands. 2013;33(5):823–35.
Cloude SR, Pottier E. A review of target decomposition theorems in radar polarimetry. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens. 1996;34:498–518.
De Grandi GD, Bouvet A, Lucas RM, Shimada M, Monaco S, Rosenqvist A. The K&C PALSAR mosaic of the African continent: processing issues and first thematic results. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens. 2011;49(10):3593–610. doi:10.1109/TGRS.2011.2165288.
Frappart F, Seyler F, Martinez JM, Leon JG, Cazenave A. Floodplain water storage in the Negro River basin estimated from microwave remote sensing of inundation area and water levels. Remote Sens Environ. 2005;99(4):387–99.
Hess LL, Melack JM. Remote sensing of vegetation and flooding on Magela Creek floodplain (Northern Territory, Australia) with the SIR-C synthetic aperture radar. Hydrobiologia. 2003;500:65–82.
Hess LL, Melack JM, Simonett DS. Radar detection of flooding beneath the forest canopy: a review. Int J Remote Sens. 1990;11:1313–25.
Hess LL, Melack JM, Filoso S, Wang Y. Delineation of inundated area and vegetation along the Amazon floodplain with the SIR-C synthetic aperture radar. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens. 1995;33:896–904.
Kasischke ES, Bourgeau-Chavez LL. Monitoring south Florida wetlands using ERS-1 SAR imagery. Photogramm Eng Remote Sens. 1997;33:281–91.
Kasischke ES, Smith KB, Bourgeau-Chavez LL, Romanowicz EA, Brunzell S, Richardson CJ. Effects of seasonal hydrologic patterns in South Florida wetlands on radar backscatter measured from ERS-2 SAR imagery. Remote Sens Environ. 2003;88(4):423–41.
Lang M, McCarty G. Improved detection of forested wetland hydrology with LiDAR intensity. Wetlands. 2009;29:1166–78.
Lee H, Beighley RE, Alsdorf D, Jung HC, Shum CK, Duan J, Guoa J, Yamazakie D, Andreadis K. Characterization of terrestrial water dynamics in the Congo Basin using GRACE and satellite radar altimetry. Remote Sens Environ. 2011;115(12):3530–8.
Melton JR, Wania R, Hodson EL, Poulter B, Ringeval B, Spahni R, Bohn T, Avis CA, Beerling DJ, Chen G, Eliseev AV, Denisov SN, Hopcroft PO, Lettenmaier DP, Riley WJ, Singarayer JS, Subin ZM, Tian H, Zürcher S, Brovkin V, van Bodegom PM, Kleinen T, Yu ZC, Kaplan JO. Present state of global wetland extent and wetland methane modelling: conclusions from a model inter-comparison project (WETCHIMP). Biogeosciences. 2013;10(2):753–88.
Papa F, Prigent C, Rossow WB, Legresy B, Remy F. Inundated wetland dynamics over boreal regions from remote sensing: the use of Topex-Poseidon dual-frequency radar altimeter observations. Int J Remote Sens. 2006;27:4847–66. doi:10.1080/01431160600675887.
Prigent C, Papa F, Aires F, Rossow WB, Matthews E. Global inundation dynamics inferred from multiple satellite observations, 1993–2000. J Geophys Res. 2007;112:D12107. doi:10.1029/2006JD007847.
Rebelo LM, Finlayson CM, Nagabhatla N. Remote sensing and GIS for wetland inventory, mapping and change analysis. J Environ Manage. 2009;90(7):2144–53.
Rosenqvist A, Shimada M, Chapman B, Freeman A, De Grandi G, Saatchi S, Rauste Y. The global rain forest mapping project – a review. Int J Remote Sens. 2000;21(6&7):1375–87.
Shaikh M, Green D, Cross H. A remote sensing approach to determine environmental flows for wetlands of the Lower Darling River, New South Wales, Australia. Int J Remote Sens. 2001;22(9):1737–51.
Smith LC. Satellite remote sensing of river inundation area, stage, and discharge: a review. Hydrol Process. 1997;11:1427–39.
Telmer K, Costa M. SAR-based estimates of the size distribution of lakes in Brazil and Canada: a tool for investigating carbon in lakes. Aquatic Conserv Mar Freshwat Ecosyst. 2007;17:289–304.
van der Valk A. The biology of freshwater wetlands. Oxford University Press; 2012.
Vanderbilt VC, Guillaume LP, Livingston GP, Ustin SL, Diaz Barrios MC, Bréon FM, Leroy MM, Balois JY, Morrissey LA, Shewchuk SR, Stearn JA, Zedler SE, Syder JL, Bouffies-Cloche S, Herman M. Inundation discriminated using sun glint. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens. 2002;40(6):1279–87.
Ward ND, Keil RG, Medeiros PM, Brito DC, Cunha AC, Dittmar T, Yager PL, Krusche AV, Richey JE. Degradation of terrestrially derived macromolecules in the Amazon River. Nat Geosci. 2013;6:530–3.
Webb EL, Friess DA, Krauss KW, Cahoon DR, Guntenspergen GR, Phelps J. A global standard for monitoring coastal wetland vulnerability to accelerated sea-level rise. Nat Clim Chang. 2013;3(5):458–65.
Whitcomb J, Moghaddam M, McDonald K, Kellndorfer J, Podest E. Wetlands map of Alaska using L-band radar satelite imagery. Can J Remote Sens. 2009;35(1):54–72.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Chapman, B., Hess, L., Lucas, R. (2016). Remote Sensing of Water in Wetlands: Inundation Patterns and Extent. In: Finlayson, C., et al. The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6172-8_317-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6172-8_317-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6172-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences