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Suspended Sediment Monitoring in Long Island Sound
November 2002 to February 2003
Ocean Data Technologies personnel provided a real-time data acquisition system to monitor suspended sediment concentrations during construction of a natural gas pipeline across western Long Island Sound. The system consisted of an ADCP and PC-based display and data recording, gyro compass, and PC-based GPS navigation software. The echo amplitude signals from the ADCP were used, in conjunction with in situ bottle samples and optical backscatter measurements, to measure suspended sediment concentrations. Current speed and direction profiles were obtained also to estimate the downstream advection. These data were required under the construction permit to assure compliance with New York state water quality regulations. The system provided real-time visualization of the plume spatial extents and was used to guide locations and timing of water bottle sampling. Analysis of the results proved that without this system, traditional water quality sampling procedures would have inadequately resolved the true sediment concentrations.