High-resolution satellite-derived river network map reveals small Arctic river hydrography

Abstract

Small rivers (width 80% of total river length and surface area of the Colville river network and drain >90% of the catchment area; (2) including numerous small rivers increases the peak of hillslope-channel travel time distribution (TTD) by ∼4 times and shortens the mean hillslope-channel travel time by at least an order of magnitude compared to coarser-resolution river hydrography products; and (3) 87% of the Colville River Basin’s carbon dioxide is emitted from small rivers. In sum, we show that small Arctic rivers greatly influence streamflow TTD and carbon cycle. These findings expand our understanding of Arctic river hydrography to a 10-m spatial resolution and raise prospects for tracking dynamic surface water processes with high-resolution satellite observations.

Keywords

• small rivers
• river hydrography
• streamflow travel time
• carbon cycling
• Sentinel-2
• ArcticDEM