New technique for flood study
Researchers are working on new ways to detect contamination of muddy flood plumes.
After a flood, muddy contaminated plumes are discharged into the sea from rivers, posing a hazard for swimmers and sealife.
A New Zealand research team has tested a new way of sampling from a fast boat to map a flood plume in Wellington Harbour, while at the same time sampling source water from the Hutt River.
They found that faecal contamination - indicated by E. coli bacteria - correlated closely with various measures that can help to monitor plumes, including salinity, sediment and coloured dissolved organic matter.
The team says these easily-detected tracers could indicate worst-case (invisible) faecal contamination in satellite imagery.
Rapid plume surveys, combined with long-term river observations, could usefully add to routine coastal water monitoring, they say.
More details are accessible here.