Abstract
Suspended sediments in water bodies are classified into organic and inorganic matter and have been investigated by remote-sensing technology for years. Focusing on inorganic matter, however, detailed information such as the grain size of this matter has not been provided yet. In this study, we present a new solution for estimating inorganic suspended sediments' size distribution in highly complex Case 2 waters by using a simple spectrometer sensor rather than a backscattering sensor. An experiment was carried out in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in the dry season to collect the remote-sensing reflectance (R<sub>rs</sub>) and particle size distribution (PSD) of inorganic suspended sediments. Based on Mie theory, PSDs in the PRE waters were retrieved by R<sub>rs</sub>, colored dissolved organic matter, and phytoplankton. The retrieved median diameters in 12 stations show good agreement with those of laboratory analysis at root mean square error of 2.604μm (27.63%), bias of 1.924μm (20.42%), and mean absolute error of 2.298μm (24.37%). The retrieved PSDs and previous PSDs were compared, and the features of PSDs in the PRE waters were concluded.
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