Pacific Southwest

Title: Turbidity-controlled suspended sediment sampling for runoff-event load estimation

Author: Lewis, Jack

Date: 1996

Source: Water Resources Research 32(7): 2299-2310.

Description: Abstract - For estimating suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in rivers, turbidity is generally a much better predictor than water discharge. Although it is now possible to collect continuous turbidity data even at remote sites, sediment sampling and load estimation are still conventionally based on discharge. With frequent calibration the relation of turbidity to SSC could be used to estimate suspended loads more efficiently. In the proposed system a programmable data logger signals a pumping sampler to collect SSC specimens at specific turbidity thresholds. Sampling of dense field records of SSC and turbidity is simulated to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of turbidity-controlled sampling for estimating sediment loads during runoff events.

Keywords: PSW4351, Caspar Creek, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), turbidity, storm, streams, hydrology, programmable data logger

View and Print this Publication (250 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Lewis, Jack  1996.  Turbidity-controlled suspended sediment sampling for runoff-event load estimation.   Water Resources Research 32(7): 2299-2310..