Researchers used measurements from the GRACE satellite that accurately measures changes in the planet’s gravity field to deduce the weight and volume of water in the Amazon River floodplain. Up until this point, scientists had difficulty with this assessment due to the sheer size of the area and the difficulties in conducting fieldwork in the remote and overgrown region. Prior to these measurements, scientists believed that the water flow into the ocean might be as much as 30 percent of the ocean’s volume, but now know that the flow accounts for roughly five percent of the volume.
The measurements have now been incorporated into a computer model and simulation software to aid further research that will help understand global change, and will inform predictions on future flood levels. The detailed hydraulic models that these methods revealed can now be fine-tuned with targeted field work.
The study of “Seasonal Water Storage on the Amazon Floodplain Measured from Satellites,” appears online in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.
