Landscape Heterogeneity of Riverine Wetlands of the Amazon Basin from a Remote Sensing Perspective UCSB – INPE - UW Leal A.K. Mertes Evlyn Novo Yosio Shimabukuro.

Landscape Heterogeneity of Riverine Wetlands of the Amazon Basin from a Remote Sensing

Perspective

UCSB – INPE - UWLeal A.K. Mertes

Evlyn NovoYosio Shimabukuro

Thelma KrugJeffrey Richey

Funding - NASA & W. Alton Jones Foundation

OUTLINE

Relationships among floodplain morphology, vegetation distribution, and inundation hydrology.

Floodplain morphology and inundation hydrology 1. along mainstem Amazon River 2. across Amazon Basin.

Classification procedure for optical data. Trends in spatial patterns of Amazon Basin

wetlands

Inundation Hydrology

Amazon Basin River Network - Digital Chart of the World

Amazon Basin Hydrology(based on unpublished data provided by Dunne & Newton)

Average total rainfall - mm Coefficient of variation (by month)

Averages based on data for 1972-1996

Vegetation Zonation on Amazon River Wetlands

(After Junk 1970)

low water

Methodology for Optical Data

O p tica l M osa ic C la ssi f ica tion

D a ta acqu is it ion2 8 L a nd sa t T M im ag es

G eo re fe re n cingU T M

1 :10 0 ,0 0 0 m a ps

Im ag e to im ag e ca lib ra tionH a ll e t a l. (19 91 ) b r igh t-d ark ta rg e t

S p ec tra l m ixtu re an a lys is-e nd m e m be r se le ction

- frac tion im ag e c lass if ica tion

C lass if ica tion

forest

Classification of SMA Data

turbid shade/clear vegetation

color composite classified v

t

sh senesced/bare

turbid water

clear water

macrophyte

Amazon Mainstem Floodplain - Landsat Mosaic

Classified Mainstem Mosaic

FOREST I (LO DENSITY)

FOREST II (HI DENSITY)

MACROPHYTE I/ PASTURE (HI DENSITY)

MACROPHYTE II/PASTURE (LO DENSITY)

TURBID WATER

CLEAR WATER

CLEARWATER W/LOW VEGETATION

SENESCED OR DEFOLIATED VEGETATION

UNCLASSIFIED

MUDDY PASTURE/MACROPHYTE

BOTTOM REFLECTANCE

SAND BARS

URBAN/BARE PASTURE

a

b

c

a bc

Vegetation Zonation on Amazon River Wetlands

(After Junk 1970)

low water

Amazon Mainstem Floodplain - Areal (km2) & Percent Cover

30567 lo trees 8776 hi trees11610 lo macro 3328 hi macro 7595 clear17951 turbid 1010 lo veg 2708 dry veg 6383 pasture 173 sand bar

90,275 all 64,383 just veg

25,546 just water

Summary for Mainstem

Landform and vegetation heterogeneity is most diverse in Zones 2 & 3 where there is significant mixing of river water and floodplain water during high water. Floodplain landforms available for colonization by vegetation include scroll bars, swales, lake shores, lake deltas, and floodplain drainage channels.

Zones 1 & 4 have less heterogeneous vegetation cover. However, where landforms are similar to the middle reaches, the spatial distribution of vegetation is similar.

Decreased forest cover downstream result of marked seasonality of precipitation and longer history of forest cutting.

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