We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Representative point-integrated suspended sediment sampling in rivers.
- Authors
Gitto, A. B.; Venditti, J. G.; Kostaschuk, R.; Church, M.
- Abstract
The vast majority of continental sediment delivered to the world's oceans moves by suspension in rivers. Depth-integrated or point-integrated bottle samplings are the traditional methods used to determine the mean concentration of suspended sediment in rivers. While there has been some investigation of the error associated with depth-integrated sampling, the representativeness of a point-integrated bottle sample has not been addressed in the literature. Here we analyze continuous hour-long measurements of suspended sediment and grain-size fractions collected using a LISST-SL in the sand-bed portion of the Fraser River, British Columbia, to determine an appropriate sampling time. The 2σ uncertainty range of individual 30 s samples varied from ±3% to ±33% about the observed mean, with a systematic increase toward the streambed. Mean concentrations for suspended sediment and grain-size fractions were computed over increasing time periods and compared with a long-duration mean concentration to determine when a sample becomes representative. A cumulative probability distribution was generated from multiple iterations of this process. All suspended sediment load and grain-size fractions bear a low probability of representing the mean concentration over standard bottle sample durations. A probability >90% of representing the mean concentration and grain size of various fractions requires ∼570 s (9.5 min) of sampling. Sampling for a shorter period of 264 s (4.4 min) can yield a sample with 73% probability of representing the mean concentration.
- Subjects
FRASER River (B.C.); SEDIMENT sampling
- Publication
Water Resources Research, 2017, Vol 53, Issue 4, p2956
- ISSN
0043-1397
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/2016WR019187