Controls of Terrestrial Water Storage Changes Over the Central Congo Basin Determined by Integrating PALSAR ScanSAR, Envisat Altimetry, and GRACE Data

This chapter intends to integrate different types of satellite measurements over the central Congo Basin to determine the controls of its terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes, which cannot be revealed if applied independently. It investigates the controls of TWS changes by tracking (channels and wetlands) and subsurface (soil moisture and groundwater) components of the water balance over the central Congo where most of the low-lying interfluvial wetlands are located around the confluence of the Congo mainstem and its major tributaries including the Ubangi, the Sangha, and the Lulonga and Ruki rivers. The chapter uses total TWS changes from gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE), nonvegetated/herbaceous/forest surface water height changes from Envisat radar altimetry, and inundation extents from advanced land observing satellite (ALOS) phased array type L-band synthetic aperture radar (PALSAR) ScanSAR data with higher spatial and temporal resolutions.