Amazon Hydrology From Space: Scientific Advances and Future Challenges. (5th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fassoni‐Andrade, Alice César; Fleischmann, Ayan Santos; Papa, Fabrice; Paiva, Rodrigo Cauduro Dias de; Wongchuig, Sly; Melack, John M.; Moreira, Adriana Aparecida; Paris, Adrien; Ruhoff, Anderson; Barbosa, Claudio; Maciel, Daniel Andrade; Novo, Evlyn; Durand, Fabien; Frappart, Frédéric; Aires, Filipe; Abrahão, Gabriel Medeiros; Ferreira‐Ferreira, Jefferson; Espinoza, Jhan Carlo; Laipelt, Leonardo; Costa, Marcos Heil; Espinoza‐Villar, Raul; Calmant, Stéphane; Pellet, Victor
• Is Part Of: Reviews of geophysics. Volume 59:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-11-05
• Subjects: Amazon basin -- remote sensing -- satellites -- water cycle -- aquatic ecosystems -- environmental changes; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 550.5
• DOI: 10.1029/2020RG000728
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 8755-1209

Abstract

Abstract: As the largest river basin on Earth, the Amazon is of major importance to the world's climate and water resources. Over the past decades, advances in satellite‐based remote sensing (RS) have brought our understanding of its terrestrial water cycle and the associated hydrological processes to a new era. Here, we review major studies and the various techniques using satellite RS in the Amazon. We show how RS played a major role in supporting new research and key findings regarding the Amazon water cycle, and how the region became a laboratory for groundbreaking investigations of new satellite retrievals and analyses. At the basin‐scale, the understanding of several hydrological processes was only possible with the advent of RS observations, such as the characterization of "rainfall hotspots" in the Andes‐Amazon transition, evapotranspiration rates, and variations of surface waters and groundwater storage. These results strongly contribute to the recent advances of hydrological models and to our new understanding of the Amazon water budget and aquatic environments. In the context of upcoming hydrology‐oriented satellite missions, which will offer the opportunity for new synergies and new observations with finer space‐time resolution, this review aims to guide future research agenda toward integrated monitoring and understanding of the Amazon water from space. Integrated multidisciplinary studies, fostered by international collaborations, set up future directions to tackle the great challenges the Amazon is currently facing, from climate change to increased anthropogenic pressure. Plain Language Summary: The Amazon basin is the largest river basin in the world, characterized by complex hydrological processes that connect high rates of precipitation, extensive floodplains, dense tropical forests, complex topography, and large variations in freshwater storage and discharge. It plays a key role in the water, energy, and carbon cycles and interacts with the global climate system. Earth observations have played a major role in supporting research in Amazon hydrology, and the characterization of several hydrological processes was only possible with the help of remote sensing data. The basin is now facing great risk under current climate change and increased anthropogenic pressure and the resulting environmental alterations require a better understanding of the overall basin's water cycle across scales. We review the strengths and limitations of observations from satellites in the context of the current and upcoming hydrology‐oriented satellite missions, and we make recommendations for improving satellite observations of the Amazon basin water cycle, along with an interdisciplinary and stepwise approach to guide research for the next decades. Key Points: Integrated view of scientific advances in Amazon hydrology with remote sensing Expected progress to understand the water cycle, aquatic ecosystems, and environmental changes with upcoming hydrology‐oriented missions Need to translate advanced knowledge from remote sensing to support water management and environmental governance