Application of a System for Automated Multidate Landsat Measurement of Suspended Sediment

Abstract

Appropriate data reduction techniques for Landsat measurement of suspended sediment have been sought by many authors since the advent of Landsat in 1972. One very recent study aimed at universal methods appropriate for multispectral scanner data is that by Holyer (1979). Other studies have been referenced in our earlier paper. In this paper we describe a system implemented for Landsat suspended sediment measurement in relation to surface data from the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. The system is available for testing on surface data from other sites around the world. The method of data reduction is chromaticity analysis (Mundy 1974a, b) which permits adjustment of atmospheric variations between dates of Landsat over-passes. <p> The system has been used to study the distribution, transport, and disposition of suspended sediment in the Bay of Fundy, the site for a proposed tidal barrage designed to generate electric power. The distribution of suspended sediment in the Bay of Fundy, the site for a proposed tidal barrage designed to generate electric power. The distribution of suspended sediment mapped by Landsat, was used to calibrate and initialize a numerical model of post-barrage siltation. Also, the transport paths of suspended sediment and the general hydrodynamic character of the flow were determined by visual interpretation of mapped suspended sediment patterns. The bulk of our work has been with suspended sediment measurement (Amos, 1976; Amos and Alföldi, 1979; Munday and Alföldi, 1979); equally satisfactory results are expected for measurement of secchi disk depth or turbidity. Some preliminary results for the latter variables as well as chlorophyll are given below.