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Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Geology, Geomorphology and Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2022) | Viewed by 17962

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Dr. Christopher Ndehedehe

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School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia
Interests: remote sensing of the environment; environmental change monitoring; surface water hydrology; assessment of tropical floodplains and freshwater ecosystems; application of optical remote sensing satellites in eco-hydrology and water budget analysis; satellite-observed changes in tropical floodplain river ecosystems; monitoring impacts of climate change on ecological and groundwater resources; land cover/land use change impacts on hydrological variability; earth observations and satellite geodetic systems for applications in remote sensing hydrology
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Dear Colleagues,

Tropical floodplain rivers and wetlands are highly valued because of the important ecological, cultural, and economic values and services they provide (e.g., recreation and tourism), including support for a range of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. Key challenges with the assessment of these river ecosystems and the productivity of floodplain rivers and freshwater habitats are lack of physical access during times of extreme inundation (or floods) and limitations associated with field observations. However, with several improvements in satellite remote sensing sensors and techniques, there is an increasing interest in the large-scale assessment of these systems with the overarching goal of understanding their response to changes in climate. The of aim this Special Issue is to improve the understanding of how climate variability and extreme events (droughts and floods) impact tropical rivers, freshwater habitats, and wetlands, as well as how river ecosystems respond to other stressors (e.g., human actions like dam construction, land cover change, and water transfer). This Special Issue seeks contributions that employ all kinds of satellite remote sensing data/missions and earth observations to improve this understanding. It particularly invites original research and review papers, including but not limited to the following research topics:

Floodplain river hydrology; flow alteration and its ecological impacts.
New methods to predict the spatial distribution of floodplain inundation patterns.
Remote sensing biophysical indicators and metrics (e.g., vegetation and inundation indices) to improve the assessment of freshwater ecosystems.
Development of remote sensing frameworks to understand how various human actions and climate variability influence wetland hydrology.
Assessment of hydrological drivers of floodplain productivity and connectivity.
Hydrological analysis and statistical modeling of river ecosystems.
Remote sensing applications in river ecosystem management.
Impacts of extreme events (e.g., droughts and floods) on river ecosystems and wetlands.
Modeling impacts of climate change on aquatic habitats and freshwater ecosystems.

Dr. Christopher Ndehedehe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

remote sensing
Floodplain river hydrology
river ecosystem assessment
vegetation
human actions
climate variability
wetland
connectivity
habitats
spatial analysis
biophysical indicators
extreme events

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 10300 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Accurate Monitoring of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in a Macrophytic Lake Using Time-Series Sentinel-2 Images

by Shuang Liang, Zhaoning Gong, Yingcong Wang, Jiafu Zhao and Wenji Zhao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(3), 640; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14030640 - 28 Jan 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3796

Abstract

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is one of the most important biological groups in shallow lakes ecosystems, and it plays a vital role in stabilizing the structure and function of water ecosystems. The study area of this research is Baiyangdian, which is a typical macrophytic lake with complex land cover types. This research aims to solve the low accuracy problem of the remote sensing extraction of SAV, which is mainly caused by water level fluctuations, differences in life-history characteristics, and mixed-pixel phenomena. Here, we developed a phenology–pixel method to determine the spatial distribution of SAV and the start and end dates of its growing season by using all Sentinel-2 images collected over a year on the Google Earth Engine platform. The experimental results show the following: (1) The phenology–pixel algorithm can effectively identify the maximum spatial distribution and growth period of submerged aquatic vegetation in Baiyangdian Lake throughout the year. The unique normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) peak characteristics of Potamogeton crispus from March to May were used to effectively distinguish it from the low Phragmites australis population. Textural features based on the modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) index effectively removed the mixed-pixel phenomenon of macrophytic lakes (such as dikes and sparse reeds). (2) A complete five-day interval NDVI time-series dataset was obtained, which removes potential noise on the temporal scale and fills in noisy observations by the harmonic analysis of time series (HANTS) method. We determined the two phenological periods of typical SAV by analyzing the intrayear variation characteristics of NDVI and MNDWI. (3) Using field-survey data for accuracy verification, the overall accuracy of our method was determined to be 94.8%, and the user’s accuracy and producer’s accuracy were 93.3% and 87.3%, respectively. Determining the temporal and spatial distribution of different SAV populations provides important technical support for actively promoting the maintenance and reconstruction of lake and reservoir ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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20 pages, 7005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

North to South Variations in the Suspended Sediment Transport Budget within Large Siberian River Deltas Revealed by Remote Sensing Data

by Sergey Chalov, Kristina Prokopeva and Michał Habel

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(22), 4549; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13224549 - 12 Nov 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2864

Abstract

This study presents detailed suspended sediment budget for the four Siberian river deltas, representing contrasting conditions between Northern and Southern environments. Two of the studied rivers empty their water and sediments into the marine located in the permafrost zone in the Arctic region (Lena and Kolyma), and the other two (Selenga and Upper Angara) flow into Lake Baikal located in the steppe and forest-steppe zone of Southern Siberia. For the first time, these poorly monitored areas are analyzed in terms of the long-term and seasonal changes of spatial patterns of suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) over distributaries systems. Remote sensing reflectance is derived from continuous time series of Landsat images and calibrated with the onsite field measurements of SSC. Seasonal variability of suspended sediment changes over deltas was captured for the period from 1989 to 2020. We identify significant variability in the sedimentation processes between different deltas, which is explained by particularities of deltas networks and geomorphology and the existence of specific drivers—continuous permafrost impact in the North and abundant aquatic vegetation and wetland-dominated areas in the South. The study emphasizes that differences exist between Northern and Southern deltas regarding suspended sediments transport conditions. Mostly retention of suspended sediment is observed for Southern deltas due to sediment storage at submerged banks and marshlands located in the backwater zone of the delta during high discharges. In the Northern (arctic) deltas due to permafrost impacts (melting of the permafrost), the absence of sub-aquatic banks and river to ocean interactions of suspended sediment transport is mostly increased downwards, predominantly under higher discharges and along main distributary channels. These results shine light on the geochemical functions of the deltas and patterns of sequestering various metals bound to river sediments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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23 pages, 60004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Changes in Terrestrial Water Storage Components over the Great Artesian Basin Using Satellite Observations

by Pankaj R. Kaushik, Christopher E. Ndehedehe, Ryan M. Burrows, Mark R. Noll and Mark J. Kennard

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(21), 4458; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13214458 - 06 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2796

Abstract

The influence of climate change and anthropogenic activities (e.g., water withdrawals) on groundwater basins has gained attention recently across the globe. However, the understanding of hydrological stores (e.g., groundwater storage) in one of the largest and deepest artesian basins, the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is limited due to the poor distribution of groundwater monitoring bores. In this study, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite and ancillary data from observations and models (soil moisture, rainfall, and evapotranspiration (ET)) were used to assess changes in terrestrial water storage and groundwater storage (GWS) variations across the GAB and its sub-basins (Carpentaria, Surat, Western Eromanga, and Central Eromanga). Results show that there is strong relationship of GWS variation with rainfall (r = 0.9) and ET (r = 0.9 to 1) in the Surat and some parts of the Carpentaria sub-basin in the GAB (2002–2017). Using multi-variate methods, we found that variation in GWS is primarily driven by rainfall in the Carpentaria sub-basin. While changes in rainfall account for much of the observed spatio-temporal distribution of water storage changes in Carpentaria and some parts of the Surat sub-basin (r = 0.90 at 0–2 months lag), the relationship of GWS with rainfall and ET in Central Eromanga sub-basin (r = 0.10–0.30 at more than 12 months lag) suggest the effects of human water extraction in the GAB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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14 pages, 3063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Dam Operation on Vegetation Dynamics of Mid-Channel Bars in the Mid-Lower Yangtze River, China

by Xu Zhou, Zhaofei Wen, Yuanyang Huang, Xuemei Yi, Maohua Ma, Tao Liao and Shengjun Wu

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(20), 4190; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13204190 - 19 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1814

Abstract

Vegetation dynamics on mid-channel bars (MCBs) is essential for supporting ecosystem functions and associated services in river systems, especially in dammed large rivers. Generally, there are two possible changing patterns that vegetation of MCBs downstream a dam would experience. On one hand, the vegetation area may shrink because of a decrease in the MCB area in the post-dam period, which has been observed in many rivers around the world. On the other hand, the MCB vegetation area may expand because flood disturbances would be weakened by dam operation. However, little evidence has been reported to clarify such confusion. Therefore, vegetation dynamics of MCBs in the mid-lower Yangtze River downstream the Three Gorges Dam (TGD; the world’s largest dam) is selected as a case study to address the issue. Using long-term (1987–2017) Landsat archive images, this study reveals the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation area change intensities (VACIs; indicated by dynamic trends) on MCBs in the mid-lower Yangtze River. Results show that an overall VACI in the post-dam period (2003–2017) is about three times faster than that in the pre-dam period (1987–2002). In other words, the rate of vegetation colonization accelerated after the TGD operation began in 2003. Moreover, the VACIs in the post-dam period are size dependent, where large size MCBs are likely to gain higher VACIs: Small-sized MCBs (0.33 km²/yr), medium-sized MCBs (1.23 km²/yr), large-sized MCBs (1.49 km²/yr). In addition, VACIs of individual MCBs in the post-dam period are distance dependent, where the further a MCB was from the TGD, the higher the VACI. It is also suggested that the weakened flood disturbances in the post-dam could explain the rapid vegetation growth and colonization. This work is not only beneficial for managing and protecting MCBs downstream the TGD after its operation, but is also helpful in understanding vegetation dynamics of MCBs in other dammed river systems around the world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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30 pages, 7265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Freshwater Changes over Southern and Central Africa (2002–2017)

by Ikechukwu Kalu, Christopher E. Ndehedehe, Onuwa Okwuashi and Aniekan E. Eyoh

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(13), 2543; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13132543 - 29 Jun 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2708

Abstract

In large freshwater river basins across the globe, the composite influences of large-scale climatic processes and human activities (e.g., deforestation) on hydrological processes have been studied. However, the knowledge of these processes in this era of the Anthropocene in the understudied hydrologically pristine South Central African (SCA) region is limited. This study employs satellite observations of evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation and freshwater between 2002 and 2017 to explore the hydrological patterns of this region, which play a crucial role in global climatology. Multivariate methods, including the rotated principal component analysis (rPCA) were used to assess the relationship of terrestrial water storage (TWS) in response to climatic units (precipitation and ET). The use of the rPCA technique in assessing changes in TWS is warranted to provide more information on hydrological changes that are usually obscured by other dominant naturally-driven fluxes. Results show a low trend in vegetation transpiration due to deforestation around the Congo basin. Overall, the Congo (r2 = 76%) and Orange (r2 = 72%) River basins maintained an above-average consistency between precipitation and TWS throughout the study region and period. Consistent loss in freshwater is observed in the Zambezi (−9.9 ± 2.6 mm/year) and Okavango (−9.1 ± 2.5 mm/year) basins from 2002 to 2008. The Limpopo River basin is observed to have a 6% below average reduction in rainfall rates which contributed to its consistent loss in freshwater (−4.6 ± 3.2 mm/year) from 2006 to 2012.Using multi-linear regression and correlation analysis we show that ET contributes to the variability and distribution of TWS in the region. The relationship of ET with TWS (r = 0.5) and rainfall (r = 0.8) over SCA provides insight into the role of ET in regulating fluxes and the mechanisms that drive precipitation in the region. The moderate ET–TWS relationship also shows the effect of climate and anthropogenic influence in their interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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18 pages, 20806 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Freeze-Thawing Erosion in the Source Regions of the Chin-Sha, Ya-Lung and Lantsang Rivers on the Basis of GIS

by Yuefeng Lu, Cong Liu, Yong Ge, Yulong Hu, Qiao Wen, Zhongliang Fu, Shaobo Wang and Yong Liu

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(2), 309; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13020309 - 17 Jan 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2517

Abstract

Freeze-thawing erosion is mainly distributed in the tundra, which is one of the main factors affecting soil erosion and soil conservation and affects the economic development of relevant countries and regions. The study area was selected to the north of Tanggula Mountain and the south of Bayankera Mountain, to the east of The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, as the headwaters of the Yangtze River and lancang River. The topography and climate were particularly prone to soil freeze-thawing erosion, and the ecological damage would seriously affect the production and life of people in the whole downstream area. Therefore, based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), this paper selects seven evaluation factors to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of freeze-thaw erosion in the study area and establishes a comprehensive weight evaluation model for freeze-thaw erosion. The results show that: (1) the evaluation model is effective, and the soil freeze-thawing erosion is strong in the whole research area; (2) the total area of the research area and the freeze-thawing erosion area are 418,843 km² and 375,514 km² respectively, the freeze-thawing erosion area accounting for 89.7% of the total research area, and the freeze-thawing erosion intensity ranged from 0.165 to 0.737; (3) the spatial distribution differs significantly, the freeze-thawing erosion intensity is mainly concentrated in high altitude areas, especially in the Tanggula Mountains; (4) slope, poor annual temperature, illumination, altitude and content of sand in soil accelerate soil freeze-thawing erosion, whereas vegetation index does not; wetness index enhanced the influence of vegetation coverage and sand content. (5) this research will provide scientific evidence for protection and restoration of ecological environment in the area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Floodplain Rivers and Freshwater Ecosystems)

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