Sequoia Scientific’s LISST-ABS is a submersible acoustic instrument that measures the acoustic backscatter sensor (ABS) concentration at a point within a river, stream, or creek. Compared to traditional physical methods for measuring suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), sediment surrogates like the LISST-ABS offer continuous data that can be calibrated with physical SSC samples. Data were collected at 10 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations between January 10, 2016, and February 21, 2018, across the contiguous United States to test the accuracy and effectiveness of using the LISST-ABS as a surrogate for measuring the concentration of suspended sediment in a dynamic fluvial system. Correlation coefficients (Pearson’s r values) relating the ABS concentration and SSC from physical samples ranged from r = 0.718 to r = 0.956 at the 10 stations with the mean percentage of fines (percentage of the sediment less than 62.5 microns in diameter) ranging from 65 to 100 percent (with minimum and maximum values of 18 and 100 percent, respectively). The LISST-ABS instruments used in this field evaluation were factory-calibrated to accurately determine SSC for grains in the diameter range of 75–90 microns. Note that the sensor responds to grains of arbitrary sizes, but the accuracy varies at sizes other than this calibration size. For operational use, regression models could be determined for the ABS concentrations and SSC values or the instrument could be recalibrated to sediments for each fluvial environment. However, such calibrations were beyond the scope of this report.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Title | Field evaluation of the Sequoia Scientific LISST-ABS acoustic backscatter sediment sensor |
| DOI | 10.3133/ofr20201096 |
| Authors | Adam E. Manaster, Timothy D. Straub, Molly S. Wood, Joseph M. Bell, Daniel E. Dombroski, Christopher A. Curran |
| Publication Type | Report |
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Series Title | Open-File Report |
| Series Number | 2020-1096 |
| Index ID | ofr20201096 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Central Midwest Water Science Center |
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Data for Field Evaluation of the Sequoia Scientific LISST-ABS Acoustic Backscatter Sediment Sensor
Adam E Manaster
Student Trainee (Hydrology)
Timothy D Straub
Supervisory Hydrologist
Molly S Wood
Chief, International Science Collaboration Branch (acting)
Hydrologist, Hydrologic Networks Branch
Christopher A Curran
Assistant Center Director
Related Content
- Data
Data for Field Evaluation of the Sequoia Scientific LISST-ABS Acoustic Backscatter Sediment Sensor
This dataset summarizes various sedimentary data from ten U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) surface water sites across the contiguous United States. These sites include: 01648010 Rock Creek at Joyce Road, Washington, DC 05586300 Illinois River at Florence, Illinois 06731000 Cherry Creek below Cherry Creek Lake, Colorado 06807000 Missouri River at Nebraska City, Nebraska 06935965 Missouri River at St. - Connect
Adam E Manaster
Student Trainee (Hydrology)EmailPhoneTimothy D Straub
Supervisory HydrologistEmailMolly S Wood
Chief, International Science Collaboration Branch (acting)Hydrologist, Hydrologic Networks BranchEmailPhoneChristopher A Curran
Assistant Center DirectorEmailPhone