Advances in Modeling Land Surface Hydrology in Amazonia
Michael
T
Coe, SAGE-University of Wisconsin Madison, mtcoe@wisc.edu
(Presenting)
Recent progress in the development and application of surface hydrology models has greatly expanded our understanding of the processes controlling the variability of surface hydrology in the Amazon Basin and has illuminated the important role surface waters play in integrating basin-wide processes. Early work in modeling the surface hydrology of the Amazon Basin necessarily focused on understanding the large-scale physical properties of the basin and simple sensitivities such as: how does flooding impact the flow of the river system, what temporal modes of discharge variability exist? Model development expanded with increases in data availability (both temporal and spatial) and computational power. As a result research expanded to include investigations of the combined spatial and temporal variability of surface hydrology and the synergies between vegetation and water. More recently, synthesis of diverse data and models has begun and as a result the focus of surface hydrology research is now broadening to include investigations of not only the basic hydrologic characteristics of the Amazon Basin but also the roles surface hydrology play in linking the Amazon ecosystem. Examples include: 1) synthesis of models such as mechanistic vegetation and water transport models to investigate how the land/water system is coupled, 2) synthesis of diverse data sources, such as satellite altimetry and imagery and ground-based data with models, to better understand the dynamics of the river/floodplain systems, and 3) synthesis of aquatic and terrestrial chemistry to reveal the fundamental role of surface hydrology in the carbon cycle of the basin. The future of surface water modeling in Amazonia holds enormous potential. The increase in data and most importantly its availability makes it possible to expand understanding of surface hydrology as the integrator of a wide range of physical and chemical processes in the Amazon Basin.
Submetido por Michael T Coe em 17-MAR-2004
Tema Científico do LBA: SH (Hidrologia e Química das Águas)