Variability of spatial patterns of total suspended matter in the Tyrrhenian Sea coasts from remote sensing data

Abstract:

During the last decade, several regions along the Italian coasts have been dramatically affected by intense river runoffs, which delivered a significant amount of sediment off and along shore. A crucial question that coatsal geomorphologists and marine scientists need to face is about the fate and impact of this impulsive sediment load, especially with respect to the historical trend and seasonality. A satellite-based analysis of these sediment discharges is a key ingredient for such a study since it represents the primary dataset for the recognition of coastal patterns of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) that may reflect erosional or depositional processes along the coats. On this regard, we developed and implemented an SSC product from remote sensing that is calibrated and validated by in situ measurements collected in the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea. We discuss spatial patterns of SSC that we observe during 2012 high river discharge event of the Tiber River in order to give some insights on the short and long term shoreline evolution.