Abstract
We used strong isolated double bounce reflections that appear along forest-water boundaries in JERS-1 SAR images of the Amazon River basin to represent small, narrow rivers that appear indistinct in the original images as bright lines in processed images reduced to 1/256 size. Since the brightness seemed to correlate with the width/water level at the point of the stream, we examined seasonal changes in the brightness of several catchment areas along the Madeira River between 1993 and 1997 and found that the total brightness of a tributary system correlated to the length of its main tributary, a hydrological parameter that can be used to calculate discharge. A mosaic of such images can be used as a quick look map of streams and flows in remote and often dangerous tropical forests. We then explored possibilities for estimating discharge from SAR data.
