Bio-optical Modeling of Total Suspended Solids

Suspended solids are a key parameter to assess the quality of inland waters. They derive from soil erosion, runoff, land-discharges, algal blooms, or bottom sediment resuspension by wind-waves. Once they enter the fluvial and lacustrine systems, suspended solids and their dispersion pathways become tracers of sediment dynamics. Within this chapter, an overview of bio-optical modeling and remote sensing techniques for mapping TSS in inland waters was presented. The bio-optical modeling was relying on a suite of IOPs [aNAP(?) and bb, p(?), with their shape parameters SNAP and ?bb], which are commonly adopted for relating TSS concentrations to water reflectance. Three case studies were presented for showing some applications of biooptical modeling and remote sensing techniques. The case studies illustrated TSS mapping based on characteristics of different optical sensors and addressing the investigation of different inland water types