SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION OF SUSPENDED SEDIMENT IN THE YELLOW SEA IN 2010 BASED ON RETRIEVED MONTHLY DATA FROM MODIS L1B IMAGERY

Based on suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) data collected in spring, autumn and winter from Yellow Sea during 2010-2011, combined with the MODIS L1B remote-sensing data, an empirical model was established to retrieve SSC from the MODIS images. The seasonal variation and distribution of suspended sediment in the Yellow Sea is studied based on the monthly averaged SSC retrieved from monthly averaged MODIS data. The results show that the distribution of suspended sediment in the Yellow Sea presented a significant seasonal variation. Three high SSC areas caused by the strong waves and coastal currents derived from winter storms were found in winter in the Yellow Sea around the Subei shoal, the Chengshantou cape off the Shandong peninsula and the north coast of the Shandong peninsula. The suspended sediment originated from the coast of the Huanghe delta was delivered through the Bohai strait to the Chengshantou and formed a highly turbid water belt along the north coast of Shandong peninsula. The SSC in the Yellow Sea decreased considerably due to weaken waves and coastal currents in spring and resulted in two independent high SSC areas in the north coast of Shandong peninsula and the Chengshantou, indicating that the suspended sediment in these two areas were from different sediment sources. In summer, only one high SSC area was formed around the Subei shoal due to the strong tidal currents in this area. The SSC in the Yellow Sea increased significantly in autumn due to the increasing in intensity of the northerly storms. The winter pattern of suspended-sediment distribution was formed since late autumn in the Yellow Sea.