Learn about how researchers are proposing to measure the Amazon River from space and model its flow when Douglas Alsdorf of Ohio State University's School of Earth Sciences visits Tuesday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m. until noon, in Prescott Hall, Room 225.

Alsdorf and his research team study the Amazon and other tropical, low relief wetlands. Their focus is on understanding the enormous flux of water through these systems and the relationship of the water to flooding, ecology and global change.

"Fresh water is a basic requirement for life, yet surprisingly, our knowledge of the volume and fluxes of water on floodplains and in rivers is poor," says Alsdorf, an alumnus of The Ohio State University and Cornell University.

Recent developments in satellite remote sensing promise more accurate mentoring of freshwater resources and better prediction of floods and droughts. Alsdorf and his team's measurements show that temporal changes in flood water heights are more complex than typically assumed.

The presentation is sponsored by the Center for the Management, Utilization and Protection of Water Resources.

For more information, contact Faisal Hossain at 3257 or fhossain@tntech.edu.