The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 multispectral scanner imagery of the nearshore surface waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean is proving to be a useful tool for determining source and dispersal of suspended particulate matter. The principal sources of the turbid water, seen best on the green and red bands, are river and stream effluents and actively eroding coastlines; secondary sources are waste effluents and production of planktonic organisms, but these may sometimes be masked by the very turbid plumes of suspended sediment being discharged into the nearshore zone during times of high river discharge. The configuration and distribution of the plumes of turbid water also can be used to infer near-surface current directions. Comparison of imagery of the nearshore water off the northern California coast from October 1972 and January 1973 shows a reversal of the near-surface currents, from predominantly south-setting in the fall (California Current) to north-setting in the winter (Davidson Current)

Carlson, P. R.

Conomos, T. J.

Janda, R. J.

Peterson, D. H.

English

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E 7.8 104 8.7?
C' ?-/3/36 7
PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND DISPERSAL PATTERNS OF SUSPENDED PARTICULATEMATTER IN NEARSHORE SURFACE WATERS OF THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN
AND THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDSY/
Paul R. Carlson, T. John Conomos, Richard J. Janda, and David H. Peterson
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
E73-10487) PRINCIPAL SOURCES ANDDISPERSAL PAiTERNS OF SUSPENDED
PARTICULATE MATTER IN NEARSHORE SURFACE
WATERS OF THE NORTHEAST (Geological
Survey) 9 p HC $3.00 CSCL 08C.
N73-21323
Unclas
G3/13 00487
Type II Progress Report for Period 1 September 1972 - 1 March 1973
Prepared for:
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
V Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730012596 2020-03-23T02:40:30+00:00Z
STAMlDARD TITLE PAGE I1. Report No.
rR 'IECrilCAL hEPOS ITS
J3. cip --e v CaalJ._ Re i ir s Catalog Nlo.
4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
Principal sources and dispersal patterns. of suspended particulate r
matter in nearshore surface waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean 6. Performing rga 1973zation e
and the Hawaiian Islands (SR 209)
7-. Althlor(s) Carlson, Paul R., Conomos, T. John, Janda; Richard J., 8. Performing Organization Rept. No.
and Peterson, David H. IN011
9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. ProjectiTask Work Unit No.
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road 11. Contract'Grant No.
Menlo Park, California 94025
.-:S-70243-AG_
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address .13. Type of Report & Period CosereZ:
Edward W. Crump Type II Progress Report
Goddard Space Flight Center 1 Sep 1972- 1 Mar 1973
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 14. Sponsoring Agency Ccde
15. Supplementary Notes
16. Abstracts ERTS multispectral scanner imagery of the nearshore surface waters of the
northeast Pacific Ocean is proving to be a useful tool for determining source and dispersa.
of suspended particulate matter. The principal sources of the turbid water, seen best on
the green and red bands, are river and stream effluents and actively eroding coastlines;
secondary sources are waste effluents and production of planktonic organisms, but these
may sometimes be masked by the very turbid-plumes of suspended sediment being discharged
into the nearshore zone during times of high river discharge. The configuration and
distribution of the plumes of turbid water also can be used to infer near-surface current
directions. For example, imagery of the Gulf of Alaska collected in September 1972 shows
complex plumes of suspended sediment being carried westward by the counterclockwise gyre
of the Alaskan current. Comparison of imagery of the nearshore water off. the northern
California coast from October 1972 and January 1973 shows a reversal of the near-surface
currents, from predominantly south-setting in the fall (California Current) to north-
setting in the winter (Davidson Current).
17. Key Words and Document Analysis. (a). Descriptors
Nearshore circulation
Suspended sediment plumes
River discharge_ ...;
18. Distributlon St;tenient 19.Security Class(This Report) 21. No. of Pages
UNCLASSIFIED 9
20. Security Clss.(Ths Pag e) 22. Price
I UNCLASSIFIED
FrORM NOlS-807(1-70)
_ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ __d
i
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Type II Progress Report
ERTS A
a. Title: Principal sources and dispersal patterns of suspended
particulate matter in nearshore surface waters of the
northeast Pacific Ocean and the Hawaiian Islands
ERTS-1 Proposal No. SR 209
b. GSFC ID No. of P.I. INO11
c. Statement and explanation of any problems that are impeding the
progress of the investigation:
The informational content of interest to this P.I. and co-investi-
gators lies in the tone contrast displayed in the water bodies imaged
along the Pacific coast. Typical microdensitometer scans of positive
transparency products have density ranges confined to two steps under
black on the grey tablet. The variation recorded in the nearshore
waters averages D = 2.20-2.45 and usually is placed between the second
and third step under black on the accompanying grey scale. Because
these ranges lie in the dense shoulder of exposure, the photographic
product supplied by Goddard is barely interpretable by eye for our
purposes. In scenes of particular interest it becomes necessary to
use a time-consuming density-enhancement process to improve the photo-
graphic record. The time and cost involved require the image to be
of good quality and relatively free of clouds and smog. This require-
ment for reprocessing considerably reduces the number of usable images
that are supplied to us. To illustrate our problem we have prepared
the following table classifying imagery received of the west coast of
North America and the Hawaiian Islands. This imagery was gathered prior
to March 1973 and is classified according to cloud cover and resulting
usefulness of image for our experiment. Increasing the contrast of water
scenes would give us much more usable imagery.
ERTS imagery (through February 1973)
Geographic Relatively Partly cloudy Cloudy
area cloud free (but useful) (not useful)
Central Calif. 8 5 7
Coast (includes
S.F. Bay)
N. Calif. Coast 5 10 17
Oregon Coast 1 6 4
Wash. Coast 8 8 13
Hawaii 0 5 8
SE. Alaskan 3 6 9
Coast
Central Mexican 18 15 17
Coast
1
d. Discussion of the accomplishments during the reporting period
and those planned for the next reporting period:
1. The Western Regional Topographic Office of the U.S.G.S. has
developed a reprocessing step for the very dark ERTS imagery that
provides enhancement of the plumes of suspended sediment in the near-
shore water. This process involves the shifting of the density ranges
within the water from the shoulder of the D log E curve down onto the
slope region. Expansion of the continuous tone is achieved through
the use of direct reversal high-contrast line film, which under proper
densitometric control can be converted to a wide-range, variable con-
trast emulsion (Allred, 1971).
Allred, W. U., 1971, Optimization of continuous tone on a reversal
line emulsion by densitometric control: Am. Soc. Photogram.,
Proceedings, Fall Convention, San Francisco, Calif., p. 1-27.
2. Copies of imagery have been sent to cooperating investigators
in Mexico for target area 4, Dr. Agustin Ayala-Castanares, and
Canada for target area 6, Dr. Donald Tiffin. We are planning to
compare observations on the imagery from these two areas with those
being made by these two scientists and their staffs, when additional
data and imagery are obtained.
3. The following NASA underflight imagery has been obtained in
the last few weeks; some was requested by our project and some by
other investigators, but all are proving very useful as aids in the
interpretation of ERTS-1 imagery:
Date Aircraft Location
Jan. 4 U-2 N. Calif. Coast
Jan. 22 C-130 S.F. Bay system
Jan. 23 U-2 N. Calif. Coast
Jan. 26 C-130 Central and N. Calif.
Coast
In conjunction with the Jan. 22 and 23 satellite passes and aerial
underflights, water-truth measurements were made from the R/V POLARIS
in south San Francisco Bay on the 22nd and in the Gulf of the Farallones
on the 23rd. Water data collected included turbidity measured with
transmissometer and Secchi disc, weight of filtered suspended sediment,
salinity, and temperature. Preliminary analysis of these data suggests
a fair correspondence between tonal changes on the imagery and changes
in Secchi disc readings of as little as 0.5 m across discrete water
boundaries.
2
4. Water-truth measurements similar to those made in January
are planned as coincident to satellite passes of April 4 and 5
over San Francisco Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones. In addition,
high-altitude aerial photographic coverage will be provided by a
U-2 aircraft from NASA, Ames.
e. Discussion of significant scientific results.....
Repetitive ERTS-1 imagery is a potentially useful tool for
studying relative concentrations and dispersal of suspended sediment
discharged into the northeast Pacific Ocean during times of high
river runoff. Each of the four bands of the Multispectral Scanner
System (MSS) provides information of value in this study. The
infrared band 0.8-1.0 micrometers) clearly delineates the shoreline
and provides the best penetration through atmospheric haze. The
plume of suspended sediment discharged into the ocean is seen in
greatest detail on the green band (0.5-0.6 pm). The red band
(0.6-0.7 vm) provides an outline of the main core of the plume,
and the near infrared band (0.7-0.8 pm) shows only the immediate
outlet position of the effluents with highest sediment concentrations.
The principal sources of nearshore turbid water seen on ERTS
Multispectral Scanner imagery are river effluents, actively eroding
headlands and coastal landslides, production of planktonic organisms,
and waste effluents. Changes in the location and configuration of
turbid water masses are related to variance in river discharge,
intensity of surf action, and direction of nearshore currents, as
well as availability of suspended particles.
Imagery of the Cape Mendocino, California area, of January 6, 1973,
shows the Bear, Eel, and Mad Rivers to be the three largest point
sources of suspended sediment, but waste effluent from a pulp mill
also is being added to the nearshore plumes of suspended particles
in the Humboldt Bay area. Because of the highly turbid and complex
nature of the plumes of suspended sediment being carried north along
the coast from the Eel River, which is immediately south of Humboldt
Bay, this waste effluent is difficult to define even on high altitude
aerial photos, but can be discerned from altitudes of less than
25,000 feet. This masking effect of the suspended sediment on waste
effluents is a good reason for conducting observational underflights of
the study area at the time of the satellite pass.
Besides using the imagery to locate the source of the suspended
particulate matter, it is also possible to infer direction of the
complex surface water movements from the distribution and shapes of
turbid masses of water. For example, current directions can be inferred
from the green bands of images of October 26, 1972, and January 6, 1973,
of the northern California coastal waters (fig. 1). In addition to
3
f,
JAN. 6, 1973 OCT. 26, 1972
o 50 KM
I I I I
Figure 1. Seasonal reversal of current directions of nearshore, surface
water along the northern California coast. Current directions were
interpreted from configurations of suspended sediment plumes present on
ERTS green band imagery of October 26, 1972 (no. 1095-18280 and 18283)
and January 6, 1973 (no. 1167-18280 and 18283).
showing the direction of movement, we can also infer-a--revers-a -in --
water movement from predominantly southerly in October (California
Current) to northerly in January (Davidson Current). This interpre-
tation of the imagery indicates that the influence of the seasonal,
north-setting Davidson Current extends to even the very nearshore
water.
Imagery of the Gulf of Alaska waters taken in September 1972
also provides considerable information about source of suspended
sediment and direction of nearshore, near-surface water circulation.
Off the Malaspina and Bering Glaciers, southeast Alaska, the influ-
ence of several melt-water streams spaced only a few kilometers
apart can be isolated and the dominant plumes traced for at least
30 kilometers from the effluent. The shapes and orientation of
these plumes indicate a northwesterly longshore current. In mid-
September 1972, the Bering Glacier appeared to be providing more
suspended material to the ocean than the Malaspina Glacier. Offshore
the movement of water is influenced principally by the Alaska Current,
but complex gyres seen on the satellite images indicate additional
influences such as winds and sea floor and coastal morphology.
Green band imagery of the Copper River Delta area, recorded
September 24, 1972, shows the very large suspended sediment load
being introduced into the Gulf of Alaska waters by the Copper River.
Up to 1964, the main discharge was through distributaries at the
west edge of the delta. However, now the active distributaries can be
seen to be more easterly. The 1964 earthquake (cause of massive
destruction in Anchorage) produced two meters of uplift in the
delta (Reimnitz, 1966), and was an important factor in the distribu-
tary shift. A study of the sediment thickness off the Copper River
Delta based largely on arcer profiles reported that the deltaic wedge
of sediment is building southwestward !(Reimnitz, 1966). These sedi-
ments have almost filled a former fjord, Orca Inlet, and appear to
have spilled over into Prince William Sound. ERTS imagery vividly
illustrates that the Copper River is the source of these sediments.
Figure 2 is an interpretation of current directions off the Copper
River Delta, which shows much of the Copper River suspended sediment
plume moving west past Orca Inlet and into Prince William Sound.
The 18-day observation cycle of ERTS allows definition of
seasonal and storm-related variations in effluent dispersal patterns.
Documentation of spatial and temporal distribution of turbid nearshore
surface waters observed on ERTS images, when applied to studies of
coastal currents and sediment distribution patterns, can provide a
better data base for planning wise use of coastal resources.
Reimnitz, Erk, 1966, Late Quaternary history and sedimentation of the
Copper River Delta and vicinity, Alaska: Ph.D. Thesis, San Diego,
Univ. California, 160 p.
Disciplines 5B, H. K; 7D.
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f. Listing of published articles......
Carlson, Paul R., and Reimnitz, Erk, 1973, Study of river effluents
and coastal water circulation off the west coast of North America
using ERTS-1 data: Geol. Soc. America Abs. with Programs
(Cordilleran Section), v. 5, no. 1, p. 20.
Carlson, Paul R., Janda, Richard J., and Conomos, T. John, 1973,
Observations of suspended-particle patterns in nearshore north-
eastern Pacific Ocean waters by ERTS-1 imagery: Symposium on
Significant Results Obtained from ERTS-1, NASA/Goddard, Greenbelt,
Md., p. 145.
Conomos, T. J., Peterson, D. H., and McCulloch, D. S., 1973,
Seasonal nontidal drift patterns, San Francisco Bay, California:
Am. Geophys. Union Trans., v. 54, no. 4, p. 303.
Peterson, D. H., Conomos, T. J., Broenkow, W. W., and Doherty, P. C.,
1973, Location of density-current stagnation, San Francisco Bay
estuary: Am. Geophys. Union Trans., v. 54, no. 4, p. 302.
Scrivani, E. P., and Peterson, D. H., 1973, Phytoplankton-zooplankton
abundance and estuarine density-current stagnation, San Francisco
Bay, California. (In Press)
g. Recommendation concerning practical dhanges in operations.....
None
h. A listing by date of any changes in Standing Order Forms:
None
i. ERTS Image Description forms:
None
j. Listing by date of any changed Data Request forms......
None
7


Principal sources and dispersal patterns of suspended particulate matter in nearshore surface waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Hawaiian Islands

Principal sources and dispersal patterns of suspended particulate matter in nearshore surface waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean and the Hawaiian Islands

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