Changes in land surface water dynamics since the 1990s and relation to population pressure

ISI Document Delivery No.: 933AG Times Cited: 11 Cited Reference Count: 19 Cited References: Adler RF, 2003, J HYDROMETEOROL, V4, P1147, DOI 10.1175/1525-7541(2003)004<1147:TVGPCP>2.0.CO;2 Alsdorf DE, 2007, REV GEOPHYS, V45, DOI 10.1029/2006RG000197 Bousquet P, 2006, NATURE, V443, P439, DOI 10.1038/nature05132 Downing JA, 2006, LIMNOL OCEANOGR, V51, P2388 Gedney N, 2004, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V31, DOI 10.1029/2004GL020919 Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), 2009, LONG TERM MEAN MONTH Lehner B, 2004, J HYDROL, V296, P1, DOI 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.03.028 Ngo-Duc T, 2005, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V32, DOI 10.1029/2005GL022719 Papa F, 2010, J GEOPHYS RES-ATMOS, V115, DOI 10.1029/2009JD012674 Papa F, 2010, J GEOPHYS RES-OCEANS, V115, DOI 10.1029/2009JC006075 Papa F, 2008, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V35, DOI 10.1029/2008GL033857 Prigent C, 2001, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V28, P4631, DOI 10.1029/2001GL013263 Prigent C, 2007, J GEOPHYS RES-ATMOS, V112, DOI 10.1029/2006JD007847 Ramillien G, 2008, GLOBAL PLANET CHANGE, V60, P381, DOI 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2007.04.002 Shindell D. T., 2004, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V32, DOI DOI 10.1029/2004GL021900 Solomon S, 2007, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007: THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE BASIS, P19 Vorosmarty CJ, 2010, NATURE, V467, P555, DOI 10.1038/nature09440 Vorosmarty CJ, 2000, SCIENCE, V289, P284, DOI 10.1126/science.289.5477.284 World Water Assessment Program, 2006, UNWATERWWAP20061 Prigent, C. Papa, F. Aires, F. Jimenez, C. Rossow, W. B. Matthews, E. Papa, Fabrice/D-3695-2009 Papa, Fabrice/0000-0001-6305-6253 European Commission; French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche; European Space Agency; NASA [NNDX7AO90E] This research was supported in part by the Sixth Framework Program of the European Commission (Water & Global Change), by the French Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (IMPACT-Boreal), by the European Space Agency (ALANIS-Methane), and by NASA (NEWS grant NNDX7AO90E). We thank the Editor and two reviewers for valuable comments. The authors thank Bertrand Decharme and Frederic Frappart for very productive discussions and comments. 12 AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION WASHINGTON GEOPHYS RES LETTWe developed a remote sensing approach based on multi-satellite observations, which provides an unprecedented estimate of monthly distribution and area of land-surface open water over the whole globe. Results for 1993 to 2007 exhibit a large seasonal and inter-annual variability of the inundation extent with an overall decline in global average maximum inundated area of 6% during the fifteen-year period, primarily in tropical and subtropical South America and South Asia. The largest declines of open water are found where large increases in population have occurred over the last two decades, suggesting a global scale effect of human activities on continental surface freshwater: denser population can impact local hydrology by reducing freshwater extent, by draining marshes and wetlands, and by increasing water withdrawals. Citation: Prigent, C., F. Papa, F. Aires, C. Jimenez, W. B. Rossow, and E. Matthews (2012), Changes in land surface water dynamics since the 1990s and relation to population pressure, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L08403, doi:10.1029/2012GL051276