Pacific Southwest Research Station

Publication Information

Title: Measuring suspended sediment in small mountain streams

Author: Thomas, Robert B.

Date: 1985

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-83. Berkeley, Calif.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Exp. Stn. 9 p

Station ID: GTR-PSW-083

Description: Measuring suspended sediment concentration in streams provides a way of monitoring the effects of forest management activities on water quality. Collecting data on suspended sediment is an act of sampling. The nature of the delivery process and the circumstances under which data are collected combine to produce highly variable results that are difficult to analyze and interpret. Data-collection stations are set up to compare one set of measurements to another. They should be located with regard to channel morphology. Deciding when to measure suspended sediment is a major problem in carrying out most studies. Concentration depends heavily on streamflow discharge, which can be used to allocate sampling resources to appropriate flow levels. Restrictions in budgets and technical concerns have fostered the increased use of automatic pumping samplers in measuring suspended sediment.

Key Words: suspended sediment, sampling, measurement, pumping samplers

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Thomas, Robert B.  1985.  Measuring suspended sediment in small mountain streams  Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-83. Berkeley, Calif.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Exp. Stn. 9 p.