We explored the potential of the environment and disaster monitoring and forecasting small satellite constellations (HJ-1A/1B satellites) charge-coupled device (CCD) imagery (spatial resolution of 30 m, revisit time of 2 days) in the monitoring of total suspended sediment (TSS) concentrations in dynamic water bodies using Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, as an example. Field surveys conducted during October 17-26, 2009 showed a wide range of TSS concentration (3-524 mg/L). Atmospheric correction was implemented using the Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis of Spectral Hypercubes (FLAASH) module in ENVI with the aid of aerosol information retrieved from concurrent Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surveys, which worked well at the CCD bands with relatively high reflectance. A practical exponential retrieval algorithm was created between satellite remote sensing reflectance and in-situ measured TSS concentration. The retrieved results for the whole water area matched the in-situ data well at most stations. The retrieval errors may be related to the problem of scale matching and mixed pixel. In three selected subregions of Poyang Lake, the distribution trend of retrieved TSS was consistent with that of the field investigation. It was shown that HJ-1A/1B CCD imagery can be used to estimate TSS concentrations in Poyang Lake over synoptic scales after applying an appropriate atmospheric correction method and retrieval algorithm.
