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Published on: November 25, 2016
Evaluating multiple causes of persistent low microwave backscatter from Amazon forests after the 2005 drought
Steve Frolking1,2, Stephen Hagen3, Bobby Braswell1,3
1Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States of America.
Plos One
|September 6, 2017
Summary
Amazonian droughts impact forest biomass. Remote sensing showed low forest microwave backscatter after the 2005 drought, but factors like deforestation only partly explain this, indicating complex drought impacts.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Remote Sensing
- Forest Ecology
Background:
- Amazonia faces severe droughts impacting forest productivity and biomass.
- Space-borne remote sensing offers crucial basin-wide data, complementing limited ground observations in remote tropical forests.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causes of persistent low microwave backscatter in Amazonian forests post-2005 drought.
- To analyze the relationship between drought, forest cover changes, and climate variations with forest vulnerability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized multiyear, gridded remote sensing data (1999-2009) including QuikScat Ku-band microwave backscatter.
- Analyzed precipitation, land surface temperature, forest cover, and forest cover loss data in the southwestern Amazon Basin.
- Correlated these variables with spatial patterns of persistent low backscatter.
Main Results:
- Anomalously low QuikScat microwave backscatter was observed during and after the 2005 Amazonian drought.
- Moderate to weak correlations were found between low backscatter and drought, forest loss, and warmer/drier post-drought seasons.
- These factors explained only approximately 25% of the variability in depressed backscatter.
Conclusions:
- Drought impacts on Amazonian forests are complex and not fully explained by current remote sensing data and analyzed variables.
- Further research requires more extensive ground data and/or high-resolution imagery for a comprehensive understanding of drought effects.
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