Observations of changes in surface water over the western Siberia lowland

Manuela Grippa (1) , M. Mognard , Thuy Le Toan (2) , Sylvain Biancamaria (3)

1 GET - Géosciences Environnement Toulouse
2 CESBIO - Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère
3 LEGOS - Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales

We analyse the evolution of the fraction of water surface (FWS), derived by SSM/I between 1988 and 2002 over the Western Siberia Lowland. This whole region exhibits an increase in the amount of FWS that is in agreement with the observed trends of the Ob river discharge and precipitation. However, a similar increasing trend is not found over the most important wetland area of Sibirskie Uvaly Hills located in a region of sporadic permafrost. These observations support the hypothesis that climate warming in discontinuous permafrost environments may lead to a reduction of small lakes and wetland areas.

Domaines: Hydrologie; Interfaces continentales, environnement

Manuela Grippa, M. Mognard, Thuy Le Toan, Sylvain Biancamaria. Observations of changes in surface water over the western Siberia lowland. Geophysical Research Letters, 2007, 34 (15), ⟨10.1029/2007GL030165⟩. ⟨hal-02137390⟩