Using satellite remote sensing and numerical modelling for the monitoring of suspended particulate matter concentration during reclamation construction at Dalian offshore airport in China.

In this study, remote sensing and numerical modelling were used to monitor the distribution of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations induced by a reclamation construction of an offshore artificial island airport in China’s Bohai Sea. A hydrodynamic model and a water quality model were used to simulate the SPM diffusion under the actions of tides and currents. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was then developed based on HJ-1A/1B satellite and measured SPM concentrations. The obtained main results are as follows: (1) The dispersion area of SPM with a concentration higher than 10 mg/l obtained by the numerical model was approximately 105.15 km²; (2) The developed ANN model provided an excellent relationship between the measured and retrieved SPM concentrations, with R² = 0.97 and mean relative error (MRE) of 30%, at the model validation phase; (3) The SPM distribution obtained by the numerical model showed a qualitatively similar pattern with that obtained by the ANN model, indicating the modelled SPM distribution was credible. Thus, when the distribution of SPM concentrations cannot be derived from the satellite images due to weather conditions, the numerical model can be used to simulate the SPM distribution in the sea area around the construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]