The overall surface of rivers and streams is 45 percent higher than previously thought

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Texas A & M University used satellite imagery, field measurements, and a statistical model to determine the amount of land covered by rivers and water courses. They found that the overall area of ​​rivers and streams is about 45% higher than what was reported in previous studies.

Rivers and streams are an important source of greenhouse gas emissions, which explains the understanding of carbon emissions.

The research paper, written by hydrologists Tamlin Pavelsky of UNC-Chapel Hill and George Allen of Texas A & M University, will be published in the journal Science on June 28.

"As we try to mitigate the effects of climate change, it is really important that we emit goes, and this requires us to accurately quantify the global carbon cycle," said Tamlin Pavelsky, lead author and Associate Professor of Global Hydrology at the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill.Our new calculation helps scientists better assess the amount of carbon dioxide that flows from rivers and streams. 39 water in the atmosphere each year

This study differs from previous studies of global rivers and streams based on theoretical extrapolations of actual data. has been able to directly measure the world's smallest watercourses and major rivers through field measurements and satellite imagery, and then use a statistical model to estimate river cover In the framework of the study, the researchers built the Global River Widths from Landsat database, which contains nearly 60 million measurements of stream widths around the world. 19659008] <img src = "https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/800/2018/1-globalsurfac.jpg" alt = ") Percentage of basin covered by the surface of the river and of the course of water (% RSSA). (B)% RSSA uncertainty per basin. (C) RSSA% difference between this study and Raymond et al. Credit: UNC-Chapel Hill

NASA will use data from this research to identify river segments during its Surface Surface and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, which will be launched in 2021. This mission will be NASA's first mission-specific satellite mission. rivers and lakes.

Learn more:
When the river is high

More information:
G.H. Allen et al., "The Global Extent of Rivers and Streams," Science (2018). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126 / science.aat0636