Science Inventory

Mapping Global Non-Floodplain Wetlands (2023 AGU Fall Meeting)

Citation:

Lane, C., E. D'Amico, J. Christensen, H. Golden, Q. Wu, AND A. Rajib. Mapping Global Non-Floodplain Wetlands (2023 AGU Fall Meeting). AGU Fall Meeting 2023, San Francisco, CA, December 11 - 15, 2023.

Impact/Purpose:

Despite their importance, there has been no global non-floodplain wetland geospatial dataset. This research effort and manuscript has focused on creating such a data product.

Description:

Non-floodplain wetlands – those located outside the floodplains – have emerged as integral components to watershed resilience, contributing hydrologic and biogeochemical functions affecting watershed-scale flooding extent, drought magnitude, and water-quality maintenance. However, the absence of a global dataset of non-floodplain wetlands limits their necessary incorporation into water quality and quantity management decisions and affects wetland-focused watershed-scale ecosystem service outcomes. We addressed this critical need by developing a publicly available Global NFW (non-floodplain wetland) dataset, comprised of a global river-floodplain map at 90 m resolution coupled with a global ensemble wetland map incorporating multiple wetland-focused data layers. The floodplain, wetland, and non-floodplain wetland spatial data developed here were successfully validated within 21 large and heterogenous basins across the conterminous United States. We identified nearly 33 million potential non-floodplain wetlands with an estimated global extent of over 16 million km2. Non-floodplain wetland pixels comprised 53% of globally identified wetland pixels, meaning the majority of the globe’s wetlands likely occur external to river floodplains and coastal habitats. The identified Global NFWs were typically small (median 0.039 km2), with a global median size ranging from 0.018-0.138 km2. This novel geospatial Global NFW static dataset advances wetland conservation and resource-management goals while providing a foundation for global non-floodplain wetland functional assessments, facilitating non-floodplain wetland inclusion in hydrological, biogeochemical, and biological model development. The data are freely available through the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Dataset Gateway (https://gaftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/ORD/Global_NonFloodplain_Wetlands/) and through https://doi.org/10.23719/1528331 (Lane et al., 2023).

Record Details:

Record Type:DOCUMENT( PRESENTATION/ SLIDE)
Product Published Date:12/15/2023
Record Last Revised:12/28/2023
OMB Category:Other
Record ID: 360007