ESTIMATING SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS FROM SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE DATA

A method for estimating sediment concentrations at different depths in coastal waters from measured spectral reflectance above the sea is proposed. The water backscattering coefficient is obtained by integrating a scattering cross section derived from Mie theory over a Junge type particle-size distribution. The results for turbid water, near an arid coast, with vertical mixing, shows a maximum of particle concentration in the middle layer, while the same method applied to reflectance data for ‘blue’ water, gives a relative concentration of sediment that gradually increases with depth. © 1990 Taylor and Francis Ltd.