Assessment of Suspended Sediment Concentration in the Mekong River Using Landsat-8 Data
Keywords:
Mekong River, Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC), Remote Sensing, Landsat-8, Normalized Differential Suspended Sediment Index (NDSSI)Abstract
The Mekong River is a vital waterway in Southeast Asia, significantly impacted by sediment dynamics driven by both natural factors and human activities. This research aims to address knowledge gaps in the application of remote sensing for sediment monitoring by evaluating the effectiveness of three indices: the Normalized Difference Suspended Sediment Index (NDSSI), the Normalized Suspended Material Index (NSMI), and the Normalized Difference Turbidity Index (NDTI) in estimating Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC) in the section of the Mekong River flowing through Thailand. Landsat-8 satellite imagery, validated with field data collected from 2017 to 2023, was utilized in this study. The findings identified NDSSI as the most accurate index, with an R² of 0.723 and an RMSE of 20.2 mg/L. Comparatively, NSMI showed moderate performance (R² = 0.512, RMSE = 25.8 mg/L), while NDTI exhibited the lowest accuracy (R² = 0.418, RMSE = 27.5 mg/L). The study indicates that NDSSI is the most suitable tool for sediment monitoring in highly turbid river systems, whereas NSMI and NDTI require further refinement to enhance their applicability in complex hydrological environments. This research highlights the significant potential of remote sensing for sustainable sediment management, offering actionable insights to improve monitoring methods and supporting future work in integrating advanced modeling techniques with high-resolution satellite data to effectively address sediment-related challenges.
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