Densimetric Monitoring Technique for Suspended-Sediment Concentrations

Abstract

Suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) in surface-water bodies such as rivers and reservoirs is one of the most important hydrologic data in solving engineering problems ranging from hydraulic design, river restoration, to water quality improvement and water resources management. Presently, obtaining SSC information relies primarily on direct manual collection, which is evidently affected by site accessibility, climatic condition, and safety concerns, not to mention the cost for sampling and laboratory analysis as well as turn-around time. There is need for alternative SSC measurement techniques suitable for continuous and real-time SSC measurements during hydrologic events where data are difficult to collect and are generally lacking or inadequate at present. This study examines the densimetric method to measure SSC, as a means of automated, continuous, and real-time collection in a laboratory setting with realistic sediments. Results showed good linear relations between SSC and the output current (milliampere) from the densimeter, and higher