Temporal variations
of river basin waters from Topex/Poseidon satellite
altimetry. Application to the Amazon basin
Comptes Rendus
de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and
Planetary Science, Volume 333, Issue 10,
Ilce de Oliveira Campos, Franck Mercier, Caroline Maheu, Gérard Cochonneau,
Pascal Kosuth, Denizar Blitzkow and Anny Cazenave
Summary of Points:
·
Although developed and optimised for open
oceans, satellite altimetry has the potential to monitor level variations of
inland surface waters such as lakes and rivers. The article presented results
of water level variations of the
·
The dominant signal is seasonal, mostly annual, with an amplitude of up to 10¯15 m peak to peak.
Comparison with in situ measurements indicates that
water levels are well measured by Topex/Poseidon
during high-water season, unlike low-water season, which suffers from data
gaps.
·
The article also discusses the interannual
component of the signal, which shows two marked minima in 1995 and 1998. The
1998 minimum is interpreted as an effect of the 1997¯1998 ENSO
event, causing rainfall deficit in the central part of the Amazon basin, hence
decrease in water levels. An EOF analysis of precipitation fields over the
basin during the 1993¯1999 period confirms the rainfall minimum by
the end of 1997 for this region.
Click HERE
for PDF