Dr Christopher Ndehedehe, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
See Chris’ full research profile here.
E: c.ndehedehe@griffith.edu.au
What are your research interests as they relate to northern Australia?
I am interested in the remote sensing hydrology of floodplains in northern Australia and the use of advance geospatial tools to answer key hydrological and ecological questions on different spatial and temporal scales. Some of these questions include, what is the link between total downstream floodplain inundation patterns and flow regimes? What are the key drivers of floodplain inundation and distribution of hot spots of aquatic plant biomass along the Australian wet-dry tropics? An important aspect of what I do is combining remote sensing observations from different satellite systems with reanalysis data and outputs from hydrological models to tell stories that can directly be incorporated into policy frameworks, conservation planning and support proactive water resources management. The unique catchment properties (e.g., rainfall seasonality, land cover states, and topography), including patterns of streamflow in northern Australia make me want to know more about land water storage and the impacts of climate on freshwater distribution and eco-hydrological processes. This has led to an increased interest in developing new tools to support the assessment of tropical floodplains and impacts of climate variability on wetland hydrology in the region.
What do you love about working in northern Australia?
I must admit, that the entire northern Australia is a beautiful place with amazing people and incredibly great landscape. The rich, cultural heritage and the fascinating nature of the Gilbert, Mitchell, and Flinders catchments, among others, which are characterized by extensive freshwater floodplains, and a network of intermittent water holes are super interesting. These attributes put together, create an increasing curiosity in quantitative freshwater research. The funnel-shaped Flinders catchment is definitely a great place, but I will prefer the Mitchell.
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