Space‐based measurement of river runoff

Brakenridge, G. Robert; Nghiem, S. V.; Anderson, E.; Chien, Steven

doi:10.1029/2005eo190001

Cited by 118 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…[46,47]). At the same time, Earth systems science has developed a rapidly expanding arsenal of data products including those from remote sensing, ground-based hydrometeorological networks, data assimilation and simulation that could be used to monitor and analyse the nature of extreme weather over large domains [48][49][50]. Many datasets are global in extent yet at resolutions useful in monitoring local environmental conditions [51] and supporting flood early warning systems [48].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America

Vörösmarty

Guenni

Wollheim

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Extreme weather continues to preoccupy society as a formidable public safety concern bearing huge economic costs. While attention has focused on global climate change and how it could intensify key elements of the water cycle such as precipitation and river discharge, it is the conjunction of geophysical and socioeconomic forces that shapes human sensitivity and risks to weather extremes. We demonstrate here the use of high-resolution geophysical and population datasets together with documentary reports of rainfall-induced damage across South America over a multi-decadal, retrospective time domain (1960–2000). We define and map extreme precipitation hazard , exposure , affected populations, vulnerability and risk , and use these variables to analyse the impact of floods as a water security issue. Geospatial experiments uncover major sources of risk from natural climate variability and population growth, with change in climate extremes bearing a minor role. While rural populations display greatest relative sensitivity to extreme rainfall, urban settings show the highest rates of increasing risk. In the coming decades, rapid urbanization will make South American cities the focal point of future climate threats but also an opportunity for reducing vulnerability, protecting lives and sustaining economic development through both traditional and ecosystem-based disaster risk management systems.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America

Vörösmarty

Guenni

Wollheim

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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“…Although the monitoring infrastructure is largely in place (Hannah et al 2011), continued difficulty in attracting funding and fostering international cooperation are major obstacles even though traditional in situ networks are much cheaper than satellite platforms. Remote sensing capabilities to estimate riverine water fluxes have been discussed by a number of authors (Alsdorf and Lettenmaier 2003;Alsdorf et al 2007;Andreadis et al 2007;Brakenridge et al 2005). Recently, proposed calculation of fresh water fluxes from the continents, based on satellite-measured precipitation and evaporation over the ocean in conjunction with sea level measurement.…”

Section: Hydrological Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

State of the Climate in 2010

Blunden

Arndt

Baringer

2011

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

141

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Several large-scale climate patterns influenced climate conditions and weather patterns across the globe during 2010. The transition from a warm El Niño phase at the beginning of the year to a cool La Niña phase by July contributed to many notable events, ranging from record wetness across much of Australia to historically low Eastern Pacific basin and near-record high North Atlantic basin hurricane activity. The remaining five main hurricane basins experienced below- to well-below-normal tropical cyclone activity. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation was a major driver of Northern Hemisphere temperature patterns during 2009/10 winter and again in late 2010. It contributed to record snowfall and unusually low temperatures over much of northern Eurasia and parts of the United States, while bringing above-normal temperatures to the high northern latitudes. The February Arctic Oscillation Index value was the most negative since records began in 1950. The 2010 average global land and ocean surface temperature was among the two warmest years on record. The Arctic continued to warm at about twice the rate of lower latitudes. The eastern and tropical Pacific Ocean cooled about 1°C from 2009 to 2010, reflecting the transition from the 2009/10 El Niño to the 2010/11 La Niña. Ocean heat fluxes contributed to warm sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Atlantic and the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Global integrals of upper ocean heat content for the past several years have reached values consistently higher than for all prior times in the record, demonstrating the dominant role of the ocean in the Earth's energy budget. Deep and abyssal waters of Antarctic origin have also trended warmer on average since the early 1990s. Lower tropospheric temperatures typically lag ENSO surface fluctuations by two to four months, thus the 2010 temperature was dominated by the warm phase El Niño conditions that occurred during the latter half of 2009 and early 2010 and was second warmest on record. The stratosphere continued to be anomalously cool. Annual global precipitation over land areas was about five percent above normal. Precipitation over the ocean was drier than normal after a wet year in 2009. Overall, saltier (higher evaporation) regions of the ocean surface continue to be anomalously salty, and fresher (higher precipitation) regions continue to be anomalously fresh. This salinity pattern, which has held since at least 2004, suggests an increase in the hydrological cycle. Sea ice conditions in the Arctic were significantly different than those in the Antarctic during the year. The annual minimum ice extent in the Arctic—reached in September—was the third lowest on record since 1979. In the Antarctic, zonally averaged sea ice extent reached an all-time record maximum from mid-June through late August and again from mid-November through early December. Corresponding record positive Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode Indices influenced the Antarctic sea ice extents. Greenland glaciers lost more mass than any other year in the decade-long record. The Greenland Ice Sheet lost a record amount of mass, as the melt rate was the highest since at least 1958, and the area and duration of the melting was greater than any year since at least 1978. High summer air temperatures and a longer melt season also caused a continued increase in the rate of ice mass loss from small glaciers and ice caps in the Canadian Arctic. Coastal sites in Alaska show continuous permafrost warming and sites in Alaska, Canada, and Russia indicate more significant warming in relatively cold permafrost than in warm permafrost in the same geographical area. With regional differences, permafrost temperatures are now up to 2°C warmer than they were 20 to 30 years ago. Preliminary data indicate there is a high probability that 2010 will be the 20th consecutive year that alpine glaciers have lost mass. Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continued to rise and ozone depleting substances continued to decrease. Carbon dioxide increased by 2.60 ppm in 2010, a rate above both the 2009 and the 1980–2010 average rates. The global ocean carbon dioxide uptake for the 2009 transition period from La Niña to El Niño conditions, the most recent period for which analyzed data are available, is estimated to be similar to the long-term average. The 2010 Antarctic ozone hole was among the lowest 20% compared with other years since 1990, a result of warmer-than-average temperatures in the Antarctic stratosphere during austral winter between mid-July and early September.

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“…Brakenridge et al (2005) demonstrated that AMSR-E can measure river discharge changes in various climatic conditions. The methodology uses the brightness temperature at 36.5 GHz H-polarization during the descending (night) orbit of AMSR-E with a footprint size of approximately 8 6 12 km 2 and an average revisit time at 1 day.…”

Section: De Groevementioning

confidence: 99%

Flood monitoring and mapping using passive microwave remote sensing in Namibia

Groeve

2010

Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

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Space-based river monitoring can provide a systematic, global, timely and impartial way to monitor disastrous floods. This paper describes a methodology to use daily passive microwave observations to detect, map and size floods, both for the purposes of global humanitarian organizations and national hydrological services. In the best case, floods can be detected as early as 2 h after they occur. Early warning is possible by monitoring upstream areas, with warning lead times up to 30 days. Flood maps are of a low resolution but match maps derived from high-resolution imagery. The interest lies in their daily availability, allowing us to understand the dynamic aspects of floods. Finally, objective flood sizing is achieved by integrating information over time and space. This paper details the results of the technique for the 2009 floods in Southern Africa and experiences for the 2010 flood season in Namibia.

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Space‐based measurement of river runoff

Cited by 118 publications

References 15 publications

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America

Extreme rainfall, vulnerability and risk: a continental-scale assessment for South America

State of the Climate in 2010

Flood monitoring and mapping using passive microwave remote sensing in Namibia

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