Evaluation of ADCP backscatter inversion to suspended sediment concentration in estuarine environments

Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), designed for measuring velocity profiles, are widely used for the estimation of suspended sediment concentration from acoustic backscatter strength, but its application to estuarine environments requires further refinement. In this study, we examined the inversion capability of two ADCPs with 600 and 1200 kHz in three Korean estuaries: the supra-macrotidal Han River Estuary (HRE), microtidal Nakdong River Estuary (NRE), and anthropogenically altered macrotidal Yeongsan River Estuary (YRE). In particular, we examined the relative importance of the sound attenuations due to water (α_w) and sediment (α_s) in response to sediment characteristics (size and concentration) as well as changing salinity and temperature. The inverted concentration was compared with reference concentrations obtained either from water samples or Optical Backscatter Sensors. In NRE and YRE, where suspended sediment concentrations were less than 0.2 g/l, the acoustic inversion performed poorly only with α_s (r = 0.20 and 0.38 for NRE and YRE, respectively), but well with α_w (r = 0.66 and 0.42 for NRE and YRE, respectively). Thus, it is important to accurately constrain α_w in low-concentration estuarine environments. However, we did not find that the varying α_w performed considerably better than the constant α_w. On the other hand, the acoustic inversion was poorest at HRE regardless of α_w and α_s (r = 0.71 and mean relative error = 45%). The large discrepancy appears to result from the poorly constrained, spatially and temporally varying sediment characteristics (grain size, density and concentration) due to non-local sediment transport in the macrotidal HRE.