REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES FOR DETERMINING SUSPENDED SEDIMENTS

摘要

Suspended sediments are the most common pollutant of the surfacewaters in inland and coastal waters. Since the 1970s remote sensing techniqueshave been used to map and quantify suspended sediments in surface waters.Boat, aircraft, and satellite with optical sensors provide spatial and temporal dataneeded to understand and monitor changes in surface suspended sediments.Early techniques were based on empirical algorithms developed from suspendedsediment measurements made at the time the remote sensing data were collected.Empirical algorithms are still widely used to quantitatively determine suspendedsediments but the use of more physically based algorithms is expanding. Thispaper discusses the applications of these algorithms to estimate suspendedsediments in surface waters. With recent and planned launches of satelliteshaving improved spectral and spatial resolution sensors, greater application ofremote sensing techniques to assess and monitor suspended sediments and otherwater quality parameter will be possible. Combining these remote sensingtechniques with GIS and GPS should improve our abilities to assess thelandscape and provide monitoring data to plan and follow clean-up efforts.