ADCP measurements of suspended sediment flux at the entrance to Jiaozhou Bay, western Yellow Sea

The purpose of the present contribution is to explore the technique to use Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) for suspended sediment flux measurements, which may be applied to coastal embayment environments such as estuaries and tidal inlets for sediment exchange and budget studies. Based on tidal cycle measurements from the entrance of Jiaozhou Bay, Shandong Peninsula, eastern China, statistical relationships between the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and ADCP echo intensity output are established. Echo intensity data obtained during an ADCP survey along two cross-sections during a spring tidal phase were transformed into SSC data. The ADCP current velocity and SSC data were then used to calculate the flux of fine-grained sediment. The results show that net sediment transport at the entrance is directed towards the open sea, with an order of magnitude of 10³ t per spring tidal cycle; hence, although Jiaozhou Bay is a low SSC environment, the tidally induced suspended sediment transport can be intense.