Satellite estimation of flooded area and river water level dynamics

MERCEDES SALVIA; FRANCISCO MATIASGRINGS; CINTIA BRUSCANTINI; VERONICA BARRAZA; PABLO PERNA; PAOLO FERRAZZOLI; HAYDEE KARSZENBAUM

Quebec City

Simposio; The International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium 2014; 2014

The objective of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of flooded area and water level in a floodplain wetland. To this end we studied a flood that occurred in 2009-2010 related to an ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) event over the Paraná River delta. The method for obtaining flooded area fraction (ff) and floodplain water level (WL), which is an extension of previously developed algorithms based on passive data, exploits the synergy of passive and active microwave signatures and model simulations of vegetation emissivity. The results are compared with, and plotted against, water level from Rosario port gauge and water level of a lagoon inside the floodplain obtained by microwave altimetry. This graphs are analyzed in terms of the possible equivalent topography of the floodplain.