Original paper
Inundation area and morphometry of lakes on the Amazon River floodplain, Brazil
Sippel, Suzanne J.; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Melack, John M.
Archiv für Hydrobiologie Volume 123 Number 4 (1992), p. 385 - 400
45 references
published: Feb 4, 1992
DOI: 10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/123/1992/385
ArtNo. ESP141012304000, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Side-looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) imagery from the RADAMBRASIL project was used to measure floodplain inundation area and the morphometric characteristics of floodplain lakes on the Amazon River and its major tributaries in Brazil. Data for the main stem (5° to 70° W) are divided into 13 reaches bounded by meridians of 1° 30' intervals. Within each reach, data are divided into left bank, right bank or islands and lake data are grouped into a morphometric classification that reflects the predominant limnological differences among lakes. The floodplain along the Amazon main stem in Brazil occupies 92,400 km2, of which 11 % is covered with lakes. The distribution of floodplain inundation area is variable, but tends to be greater on the left bank, especially in the upper reaches. Lakes with dish-shaped basins are generally the predominant class of lakes on the main stem floodplain. Although only 10 % of the lakes are larger than 2 km2, they comprise more than half of the total lake area and are thus important components of the floodplain lake population. The areas of the floodplains along the major Amazonian tributaries within Brazil total 62,000 km2.
Keywords
RADAMBRASIL • floodplain • tributaries • Amazon River • Brazil