Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Rodgers III, C. John

Committee Member

Kirkland, L. Brenda

Committee Member

Schmitz, W. Darrel

Committee Member

Mylroie, E. John

Date of Degree

8-9-2008

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

This study compares suspended sediment and land use/land cover in the watershed of Weeks Bay, Alabama. Using Landsat thematic mapper imagery, potential high and low erosion sites were determined based on the increase in urban development form 2002 to 2005. In situ sediment sampling was used to test the hypothesis that the high erosion potential sites have larger amounts of suspended sediments. Additionally, sampling was performed along the Fish and Magnolia rivers to establish a background total suspended sediment level. The background study established an average total suspended sediment concentration of 18.71 mg/L for the Fish River and 17.47 mg/L for the Magnolia River, which are higher than previous studies. The results of the comparison between suspended sediments and land use/land cover proved to be more complex than expected due to variation in precipitation, to the 30 m satellite resolution, and to the criteria for classifying urban land use.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15283

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