Methane production, transport and emission in Amazon hydroelectric plants

A TM/Landsat5 time series was digitally processed to identify sample stations, according to the age of macrophyte stands. These areas were sampled to assess the respiratory process of the Tucurui reservoir, Para State, Brazil. The results suggest that tributaries often occupied by floating macrophytes are significant methane sources to the atmosphere, where bubble fluxes are the main transport process. A methane concentration gradient in deep waters indicates horizontal fluxes from tributaries to the main channel. As a result, open water areas emit in diffusive fluxes a large amount of the methane produced in tributaries