Spatial and temporal variability of suspended sediment fronts over the Yangtze Bank in the Yellow and East China Seas

Multiscale Spatio‐Temporal Variations of Suspended Sediment Fronts in the Semi‐Enclosed Bohai Sea, China

“…Other front extraction algorithms such as the histogram‐based front detection algorithm (Miller, 2004; H. Yang et al., 2016), the entropy‐based front detection algorithm (Hu et al., 2016), and the GRIDHIST algorithm (Kirches et al., 2016) were also used to identify SSFs. FP data sets from this study and previous works clearly showed that the gradient‐based front detection algorithm can identify the most robust and significant features of the spatio‐temporal evolution of SSFs in different estuarine and coastal environments (Du et al., 2022, 2023). By comparing the results of our study with those of other coastal and/or estuarine environments, it was found that the spatial and temporal distribution of SSFs in different sea areas had obvious local characteristics, and the main controlling factors were closely related to the local ocean dynamic characteristics.…”

“…In addition, frontal activity in the YRE with a large sediment discharge was much stronger than that in the estuaries of the North Sea (Kirches et al., 2016). These phenomena were closely related to local topography, tides, wind fields, and river discharge (Du et al., 2022, 2023; Framinan & Brown, 1996; Hu et al., 2016). Therefore, these works indicated that the temporal and spatial variations of SSFs in different coastal and estuarine environments were complex, with varying degrees of influence from multiple factors.…”

“…By comparing the results of our study with those of other coastal and/or estuarine environments, it was found that the spatial and temporal distribution of SSFs in different sea areas had obvious local characteristics, and the main controlling factors were closely related to the local ocean dynamic characteristics. For example, compared with the Zhejiang and Fujian coasts and the Yangtze Bank, the FP map of the Bohai Sea identified the unique structures of tidal sand ridge and tidal shear front, and the interannual fluctuation of frontal activity in the Bohai Sea also presented the opposite characteristics to these two regions (Du et al., 2022, 2023). In addition, frontal activity in the YRE with a large sediment discharge was much stronger than that in the estuaries of the North Sea (Kirches et al., 2016).…”

“…GOCI standard algorithm (Case2 algorithm) was used to retrieve SSC: $$$\text{SSC}={10}^{(0.08823+1.627\times (\text{Rrs}(745)/\text{Rrs}(555))+1.121\times (\text{Rrs}(680)/\text{Rrs}(490)))}$$$ where Rrs denotes the remote‐sensing reflectance per steradian (sr −1 ). GOCI‐derived Level‐2 SSC data have been successfully applied to extract SSFs in the Yellow Sea coasts (Hu et al., 2016), the YRE and adjacent waters (J. Wu et al., 2016), the Zhejiang and Fujian coasts (Du et al., 2022; W. Yin & Huang, 2016), the coastal waters of the Shandong Peninsula (L. Liu & Wang, 2019), the Gyeonggi Bay (H. Yang et al., 2016), and the Yangtze Bank (Du et al., 2023; Y. Zhou et al., 2020). Since this study focuses on describing the frontal dynamics rather than estimating the SSC, the above GOCI products are sufficient to characterize the spatio‐temporal variations of frontal activity in the Bohai Sea.…”

“…Wu et al, 2016), the Zhejiang and Fujian coasts (Du et al, 2022;W. Yin & Huang, 2016), the coastal waters of the Shandong Peninsula (L. Liu & Wang, 2019), the Gyeonggi Bay (H. Yang et al, 2016), and the Yangtze Bank (Du et al, 2023;Y. Zhou et al, 2020).…”