A new technology for suspended sediment simulation in Lake Taihu, China: Combination of hydrodynamic modeling and remote sensing

Abstract

Sediment resuspension is closely related to the endogenetic release of nutrients in Lake Taihu. Thus, understanding the factors associated with sediment resuspension is important. In this study, a new technology, which integrates a hydrodynamic model and remote sensing techniques, was applied to derive the distribution of the erosion flux and obtain the spatially variable critical shear stress. Then, the spatially variable critical shear stress was used in the sediment simulations at Lake Taihu. Compared to the traditional model, based on uniform values of critical shear stress, the new method, using variable values of critical shear stress calibrated from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) data, significantly improved the sediment simulations at Lake Taihu. Based on the erosion flux from August 6-8, 2013, the correlations between erosion and wind speed, wind fetch, mud depth, and water depth were analyzed for different subsections and spots in Lake Taihu. The potential sources of error were also addressed. Further improvement of the model is necessary.