Variation of Water Cover in Amazon Biome During Year 2023 Seen by Remote Sensor Data

Amazon is recognized for its biodiversity and has a crucial role in the global climate balance. However, it is currently facing drought, one of the most pressing challenges in its history. Then the objective of this study was to estimate the extent of water coverage in the Amazon biome during the seasonal pulses of rising and descending waters. For this, we used NPP VIIRS and Sentinel-2 MSI mosaics which were acquired during the 2023 peak flood and the peak drought events ever recorded in the Rio Negro, Amazonas. To classify water coverage using images from both sensors, a script was developed in GEE, which applies the Linear Spectral Mixing Model (LSMM). The estimated areas were: 109,169.00 km
²
(January to July 2023) and 61,477.50 km
²
(August to October). The drought event in Amazon this year is due to the 2023 strong El Niño and the temperature increase in the North Atlantic.