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Description

This data set provides a map of wetland extent, vegetation type, and dual-season flooding state of the entire lowland Amazon basin. As described in Hess et al. (2015), the classified image was derived from the Global Rain Forest Mapping Project (GRFM) Amazon mosaics (Rosenqvist et al 2000; Siqueira et al. 2002) acquired during Oct.-Nov. 1995 and May-June 1996, corresponding to the low-flood and high-flood seasons for much of the central Amazon.
Hess et al. (2003) mapped wetland extent, vegetative cover, and flooding state for an 18 degree × 8 degree portion of the central Amazon using the dual-season GRFM mosaics. This study extends the previous wetlands mapping to report the first validated estimate of wetland extent, cover, and flooding for the lowland Amazon basin.
A wetlands mask was created by segmentation of the mosaics and clustering of the resulting polygons; a rules set was then applied to classify wetland areas into five land cover classes and two flooding classes using dual-season backscattering values. The mapped wetland area of 8.4 × 105 km2 is equivalent to 14 % of the total basin area (5.83 × 106 km2) and 17% of the lowland basin (5.06 × 106 km2). The mapped flooding extent is representative of average high and low-flood conditions for latitudes north of 6 degrees S; flooding conditions were less well captured for the southern part of the basin. The wetlands map is provided in GeoTIFF format using two coordinate systems: unprojected (Geographic) with pixel size of 3 arcseconds, and Albers Conical Equal Area with pixel size of 100 m.

Product Summary

Platforms
JERS-1
Instruments
SAR
Spatial Extent

N: 6 S: -21.0024 E: -50 W: -80

Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1995-09-01 to 1996-06-30
Data Partner
THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY (ORNL) DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER (DAAC) (ORNL_DAAC)
Concept ID
C2781649041-ORNL_CLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
2
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Wetlands ,
Land Use/Land Cover Classification ,
Inundation

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Hess, L. L., Melack, J. M., Affonso, A. G., Barbosa, C. C. F., Gastil-Buhl, M., & Novo, E. M. L. M. (2015). LBA-ECO LC-07 Wetland Extent, Vegetation, and Inundation: Lowland Amazon Basin (Version 2). ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1284 Date Accessed: 2026-05-31

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Modeling surface water dynamics in the Amazon Basin using MOSART-Inundation v1. 0: impacts of geomorphological parameters and river flow representation Luo, Xiangyu, Li, Hong-Yi, Leung, L. Ruby, Tesfa, Teklu K., Getirana, Augusto, Papa, Fabrice, Hess, Laura L. Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
The hydro-geomorphologic complexity of the lower Amazon River floodplain and hydrological connectivity assessed by remote sensing and field control Park, Edward, Latrubesse, Edgardo M. Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
ORCHILEAK (revision 3875): A new model branch to simulate carbon transfers along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum of the Amazon basin Lauerwald, Ronny, Regnier, Pierre, Camino-Serrano, Marta, Guenet, Bertrand, Guimberteau, Matthieu, Ducharne, Agnes, Polcher, Jan, Ciais, Philippe Air Temperature, Precipitation Amount, Discharge/Flow, Dissolved Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Compounds, Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation, Floods
Implementation of data citations and persistent identifiers at the ORNL DAAC Cook, Robert B., Vannan, Suresh K.S., McMurry, Benjamin F., Wright, Daine M., Wei, Y., Boyer, Alison G., Kidder, J.H. Carbon, Nitrogen, Soil Water Holding Capacity, Soil Bulk Density, Soil Chemistry, Soil Classification, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Horizons/Profile, Nitrogen Compounds, Nitrogen Oxides, Forests, Biomass, Discharge, Soil Depth, Albedo, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Carbon, Respiration Rate, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Runoff, Ecosystem Functions, Agricultural Lands, Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Air Temperature, Precipitation Amount, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Surface Winds, Humidity, Solar Radiation, Net Radiation, Surface Pressure, Snow Depth, Land Surface Temperature, Radiative Flux, Water Vapor, Soil Temperature, Heat Flux, Wetlands, Inundation
Empty forest or empty rivers? A century of commercial hunting in Amazonia Antunes, Andre P., Fewster, Rachel M., Venticinque, Eduardo M., Peres, Carlos A., Levi, Taal, Rohe, Fabio, Shepard, Glenn H. Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
An explicit GIS-based river basin framework for aquatic ecosystem conservation in the Amazon Venticinque, Eduardo, Forsberg, Bruce, Barthem, Ronaldo, Petry, Paulo, Hess, Laura, Mercado, Armando, Canas, Carlos, Montoya, Mariana, Durigan, Carlos, Goulding, Michael Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
Extreme flood events in the Bolivian Amazon wetlands Ovando, A., Tomasella, J., Rodriguez, D.A., Martinez, J.M., Siqueira-Junior, J.L., Pinto, G.L.N., Passy, P., Vauchel, P., Noriega, L., von Randow, C. Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
Wetlands of the Lowland Amazon Basin: Extent, Vegetative Cover, and Dual-season Inundated Area as Mapped with JERS-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Hess, Laura L., Melack, John M., Affonso, Adriana G., Barbosa, Claudio, Gastil-Buhl, Mary, Novo, Evlyn M. L. M. Wetlands, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Inundation
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