Remote Sensing Studies of Suspended Sediment Concentration Variations in a Coastal Bay During the Passages of Atmospheric Cold Fronts

Mississippi River, the largest river in North America, carries a significant amount of sediment into the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal waters. In this region, recurring wind events associated with atmospheric cold fronts between fall and the following spring dominate resuspension and transport of the sediment. In this paper, based on a time series of the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer satellite images with a moderate spatial resolution of 250 m during the passages of three atmospheric cold fronts in March 2013, considering the entire process of cold fronts, the distribution and variation of total suspended sediment (TSS) concentration and underlying hydrodynamic mechanism were analyzed. The TSS concentration distribution and sediment transport in the Atchafalaya Bay within the Mississippi River estuary were found to be positively correlated with the magnitude of local winds and waves, and negatively correlated with bathymetry. During the prefrontal stage, concentrations in the offshore water always decreased as a result of the wind-induced landward sediment transport. In the shallower water, the variations of TSS concentration are dominated by the intensity of wind stress. In the post frontal period, the variations of TSS were controlled by wind-driven currents, resuspension, and vertical mixing. Although there were some exceptional situations due to the variations of the characteristics of wind and wind-induce wave, in general, the TSS concentration decreased in the entire region.