The spatial and temporal variation of total suspended solid concentration in Pearl River Estuary during 1987–2015 based on remote sensing

Highlights: • The spatial and temporal variations of TSS in PRE were analyzed from 112 scenes of Landsat imageries. • There was a significant decreasing trend of TSS from the NW to SE (− 5.86 mg/L.km). • TSS in east and west shoals were about 1.18 and 1.5 times higher than that of the middle shoal (127.3 mg/L), respectively. • In high flow season, there existed a significant and definite annual cycle period (5–8 years) and decreased trend (5.7–10.1 mg/L.year) of TSS changes from 1987–2015. • In LFS, TSS concentrations in west channel and middle shoal showed a weak increasing trend due to controlled discharge • The man-made protection measures had a great influence on the variation law of TSS concentration, such as dam construction, controlled discharge or sea protection area. The movement and migration of total suspended solid (TSS) are the essential component of global material cycling and change. Based on the TSS concentrations retrieved from 112 scenes of Landsat remote sensing imageries during 1987–2015, the spatial and temporal variations of TSS concentration in high flow season and low flow seasons of six sub-regions (west shoal, west channel, middle shoal, east channel, east shoal and Pearl River Estuary Chinese White Dolphin National Nature Reserve and its adjacent waters (NNR)) of Pearl River Estuary (PRE) were analyzed and compared by statistical simulation. It was found that TSS concentrations in east and west shoals were about 23 mg/L and 64 mg/L higher than that of the middle shoal, respectively. There was a significant decreasing trend of TSS concentration from the northwest (223.7 mg/L) to southeast (51.4 mg/L) of study area, with an average reduction of 5.86 mg/L per km, which mainly attributes to unique interaction of runoff and tide in PRE. In high flow season, there existed a significant and definite annual cycle period (5–8 years) of TSS concentration change primarily responding to the periodic variation of precipitation. There were five full-fledged period changes of TSS detected in west shoal and west channel (the years of changes in 1988, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2010, 2015), while there were the last four cycle periods found in middle shoal, east channel, east shoal and NNR only. TSS concentrations in shoals and channels of PRE showed a significant decreased trend mainly due to the dam construction at the same time, with an average annual TSS concentration decrease of 5.7–10.1 mg/L in high flow season from 1988 to 2015. There was no significant change trend of TSS concentration in NNR before 2003, but the TSS concentration decreased significantly after the establishment of the NNR since June 2003, with an average annual decrease of 9.7 mg/L from 2004 to 2015. It was deduced that man-made protection measures had a great influence on the variation trend and intensity of TSS concentration in PRE, but had little effect on the cycle of TSS changes, indicating that the cyclical change is a very strong natural law. In low flow season, there was no significant change trend of TSS concentrations in PRE except that TSS concentrations in west channel and middle shoal showed a weak increasing trend (2.1 mg/L and 2.9 mg/L, respectively), which is probably because of controlled discharge for avoiding the intrusion of saltwater in PRE. Evidently, the change trend and cycle periods of TSS concentration in high- and low-flow seasons in six sub-regions of PRE had significant difference. The decreasing trend and cycle periods of TSS concentration mainly occurred in high flow season. The change trend and cycle periods of TSS concentration in low flow season was relatively small in PRE. The study shows that long series mapping of Landsat remote sensing images is an effective way to help understanding the spatial and temporal variation of TSS concentrations of estuaries and coasts, and to increase awareness of environmental change and human activity effects.