Congo Basin Hydrology, Climate, and Biogeochemistry

The Congo River Basin is the world's second largest in terms of river discharge and drainage area. The largest is the better known Amazon River Basin. Because the Congo is much less studied compared to the Amazon, there are unanswered questions regarding the Congo's precipitation, hydrology, hydraulics, and carbon ecology. For example, based on a few remotely sensed altimeter measurements, it appears that the wetland water levels of the Cuvette Centrale are higher in elevation than the immediately adjacent Congo mainstem. The wetland does not appear to have large channels. Both of these observations are rather unlike what we find in the more familiar Amazon and its floodplain. Therefore, the question is open regarding how water exchanges between the world's second largest river and one of the world's largest wetlands. In turn, this question regarding hydrodynamics factors in to how carbon is exchanged and the role of precipitation in the wetland water balance. Questions like this are also evident for understanding how precipitation is driven by atmospheric jets, how much carbon is evading from the waters, and so on. These are first-order questions that require a collection of measurements and models to thoroughly understand and know the answers--