Monthly Inundated Areas for Six South American Floodplains: 1978-1987

ORNL_CLOUD provides a monthly record of inundated area in square kilometers for six major South American floodplain and open water regions. Data spans December 1978 to August 1987 for the Amazon mainstem and January 1979 to August 1987 for five other regions, derived from SMMR passive microwave satellite data. The dataset includes tabular area values and geospatial shapefiles defining the region boundaries.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal and interannual flood pulse variability in the Amazon mainstem floodplain using monthly area values.
• Mapping the spatial extent of the Pantanal, Llanos de Mojos, and other wetlands using the provided ESRI Shape files.
• Correlating inundation area with climate indices to understand regional hydroclimate drivers.
• Establishing a baseline for historical wetland extent against which to measure modern changes from newer satellite data.
• Studying the differences in hydrological regimes between floodplains like Bananal Island and the Llanos del Orinoco.

Strengths

• Covers a consistent, nearly 9-year time series for six distinct and ecologically critical South American regions.
• Includes both tabular time-series data and precise geospatial polygon definitions (17 shapefiles) for analysis.
• Uses a standardized remote sensing method (SMMR passive microwave) applied uniformly across all regions and time periods.
• Area estimates encompass both permanent water bodies and seasonally inundated land, providing a complete picture of surface water.

Limitations

• Exact row counts and file sizes are not specified across the provided platform descriptions.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata, with one source listing 2026-03 -13 and another listing the end date of the data itself (1987-08-31).
• The data is historical, ending in 1987, limiting direct analysis of recent decades without supplementary datasets.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Inundated area determined from SMMR (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer) passive microwave data.

Time Range

December 1978 to August 1987

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:14:46.697532

Geography

Six floodplain regions in South America: Amazon mainstem (Brazil), Llanos de Mojos (Bolivia), Bananal Island (Brazil), Roraima savannas (Brazil/Guyana), Llanos del Orinoco (Venezuela/Colombia), Pantanal wetland (Brazil).