Monitoring spatial and temporal variability of suspended sediment in Indus River by means of remotely sensed data

Abstract

Remote sensing has emerged as a useful tool for monitoring spatial and temporal distribution of sediment fluxes in the water bodies. The large quantity of sediment transported by the river waters create a number of water resources and environmental problems and could shorten the useful life of many downstream reservoirs and dams. The objective of the present article is to quantify the distribution of suspended sediment by means of Advanced Land Observing Satellite/Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (ALOS/AVNIR-2) and Systeme Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) satellite data. Multispectral remotely sensed algorithm was developed to investigate the distribution of suspended sediment in the Indus River, Pakistan, and Tarbela dam reservoir. Reflectance of ALOS/AVNIR-2 band 3 and band 4 and SPOT-2 satellite band 2 and band 3 was found to be the best predictor of suspended sediment concentration in the surface waters. To deal with the lack of in situ data, remotely sensed data are coupled with optical modeling and the desired parameter is derived by model inversion technique. The developed methodology is an effective and efficient tool for monitoring erosion, deposition areas, and sediment distribution in large rivers.