Melack, John: University of California (Project Lead)
Coe, Michael: WHRC (Co-Investigator)
MacIntyre, Sally: University of California (Co-Investigator)
Project Funding:
2017 - 2020
NRA: 2016 NASA: Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
Tropical aquatic systems, including floodplains and other wetlands, lakes and rivers, are major sources of methane to the atmosphere. The considerable uncertainty about the estimated fluxes of methane stems from the large seasonal and inter-annual variations in ecological conditions and inundation typical of floodplains and other wetlands. In this project, we will combine results from our field measurements, hydrological simulations and advances in remote sensing to develop mechanistic models that couple floodplain inundation dynamics to the production and emission of methane. Our work will quantify and reduce uncertainty associated with estimates of methane fluxes and expand understanding of their temporal and spatial variability. Among tropical river systems, the Amazon basin is the largest and has the most extensive floodplains. Hence, our analyses will focus on aquatic systems in the Amazon basin. Remote sensing of inundation and vegetative dynamics will be combined with recent results from in situ measurements of methane fluxes,related physical processes and hydrological models to provide regional estimates of methane fluxes.
Publications:
Amaral, J. H. F., Farjalla, V. F., Melack, J. M., Kasper, D., Scofield, V., Barbosa, P. M., Forsberg, B. R. 2019. Seasonal and spatial variability of CO2 in aquatic environments of the central lowland Amazon basin. Biogeochemistry. 143(1), 133-149. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-019-00554-9
Anderson de Castro, A., Cuartas, L. A., Coe, M. T., Von Randow, C., Castanho, A., Ovando, A., Nobre, A. D., Koumrouyan, A., Sampaio, G., Costa, M. H. 2018. Coupling the terrestrial hydrology model with biogeochemistry to the integrated LAND surface model: Amazon Basin applications. Hydrological Sciences Journal. 63(13-14), 1954-1966. DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2018.1538592
Augusto-Silva, P. B., MacIntyre, S., de Moraes Rudorff, C., Cortes, A., Melack, J. M. 2019. Stratification and mixing in large floodplain lakes along the lower Amazon River. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 45(1), 61-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.jglr.2018.11.001
Barbosa, P. M., Farjalla, V. F., Melack, J. M., Amaral, J. H. F., da Silva, J. S., Forsberg, B. R. 2018. High rates of methane oxidation in an Amazon floodplain lake. Biogeochemistry. 137(3), 351-365. DOI: 10.1007/s10533-018-0425-2
Ji, X., Lesack, L. F. W., Melack, J. M., Wang, S., Riley, W. J., Shen, C. 2019. Seasonal and Interannual Patterns and Controls of Hydrological Fluxes in an Amazon Floodplain Lake With a Surface-Subsurface Process Model. Water Resources Research. 55(4), 3056-3075. DOI: 10.1029/2018wr023897
Rosentreter, J. A., Borges, A. V., Deemer, B. R., Holgerson, M. A., Liu, S., Song, C., Melack, J., Raymond, P. A., Duarte, C. M., Allen, G. H., Olefeldt, D., Poulter, B., Battin, T. I., Eyre, B. D. 2021. Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources. Nature Geoscience. 14(4), 225-230. DOI: 10.1038/s41561-021-00715-2
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
