Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34

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Journal of South American Earth Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsames

Satellite assessment of the coupling between in water suspended

particulate matter and mud banks dynamics over the French Guiana
coastal domain
V. Vantrepotte*, E. Gensac, H. Loisel, A. Gardel, D. Dessailly, X. Mériaux
INSU-CNRS, UMR 8187, LOG, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et des Géosciences, Université Lille Nord de France, ULCO, 32 avenue Foch, 62930 Wimereux, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Particulate suspended matter concentration (SPM) were estimated over a 8 year time period (2002e2010)
Received 15 December 2011 in the coastal waters of French Guiana from a regional algorithm applied to the MODIS monthly reflectance
Accepted 15 November 2012 measurements. Comparison between SPOT images and MODIS-SPM maps revealed the strong spatio-
temporal coupling between in water SPM and the dynamics of local (i.e. Kourou and Cayenne) mud
Keywords: banks. Highest MODIS SPM values (>13 g m
3 approximately) can be significantly associated with the
Suspended matter
subtidal part of the banks as well as to the related turbid plume. The migration of these mud banks induces
Mud banks
strong interannual changes in SPM reaching up to 6% year
1 within increasing and decreasing patchy areas
Ocean color
MODIS
distributed alternatively along the coastline of French Guiana. Mud banks migration rates derived from
French Guiana MODIS SPM data reach in average about 2 km year
1 in agreement with previous studies. The MODIS time
series have allowed for a detailed description of the seasonality and interannual variations in the in-water
SPM loads. Seasonal changes in SPM are related to the onset of the trade wind season. Marked non-linear
patterns including a sharp evolution in the SPM values around 2005 as well as additional high frequency
modulations have been emphasized within the upward and downward SPM trend regions. Concurrent
temporal variations in the frequency of northward swells (favoring mud banks migration and reworking) as
well as interannual changes in the amount of sediment delivered by the Amazon River have been shown to
play a major role in the SPM temporal patterns observed in the French Guiana coastal waters. Our results
clearly demonstrate the advantage for ocean color data to describe mud banks dynamics through the
assessment of in water SPM temporal variability.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The coastal waters stretching between the mouths of Amazon
(Brazil) and Orinoco Rivers (Venezuela) represent the world longest
muddy coastal domain. This seashore hosts huge mud banks which
are formed on the Amapá coast (North of Brazil) and migrate along
the Guiana’s coastline under the influence of swells and currents.
The mud banks dynamics over this area is strongly conditioned by
the marine particulate matter originating from the Amazon River
outputs (Gardel and Gratiot, 2005). The dynamics of the sedi-
mentary discharge from the Amazon River has been widely docu-
mented (Gibbs, 1967; Meade et al., 1979, 1985; Bordas et al., 1988;
Filizola, 1999). The most recent study (Martinez et al., 2009)
highlights a suspended sediment discharge reaching about
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ33 21996414; fax: þ33 21996401.
E-mail address: vincent.vantrepotte@univ-littoral.fr (V. Vantrepotte).
8.108 t year
1. Each year, around 15e20% of this sediment supply
migrates along the Guiana coasts (Augustinus, 1978; Wells and
Coleman, 1978; Eisma et al., 1991; Allison et al., 2000). A signifi-
cant amount of this suspended sediment is trapped near Cabo
Cassipore (North of Brazil) and participate to the mud banks
formation (Allison et al., 2000). The remaining part of the Amazon
suspended sediment is transported along the Guiana coast thanks
to the North Brazilian and Guiana currents (Wells and Coleman,
1978). The mud banks migration processes strongly affect the
morphology of French Guiana coastal domain. Mud banks are
spaced of about 15e25 km (interbank areas), and are estimated to
be of 10e60 km long, 20e30 km wide and 5 m thick (Allison et al.,
2000; Froidefond et al., 1988). Mud banks protect the coasts from
erosion which occurs in interbank phase while the massive and fast
accumulation of mud along the coast can create significant issues
for navigation (implying daily dredging in the concerned harbors)
and tourism activities. Further, consolidated mud flats are rapidly

0895-9811/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2012.11.008
26 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34
colonized by mangroves which have a relevant impact on regional
biogeochemical processes (Fromard et al., 2004; Proisy et al., 2009;
Gensac et al., 2011).
Numerous uncertainties still remain on the underlying
mechanisms driving the mud banks formation and migration
processes (Anthony et al., 2010). Recent studies based on high
resolution satellite imagery have allowed a better description of
the morphology and dynamics of the French Guiana mud banks
(e.g. Froidefond et al., 2004; Gardel and Gratiot, 2005). The
latter authors have emphasized the potential of LANDSAT and
SPOT images to be used for estimating mud banks migration
rates which can reach up to 3 km year
1. These previous studies,
despite their high spatial precision, were however limited by
the temporal resolution of the data used, preventing a detailed
and continuous monitoring of the mud banks migration
processes.
In that context, the estimation of total suspended particulate
matter concentration (SPM) from ocean color remote sensing can
provide relevant information on the mud banks dynamics through
the assessment of its impact on the in-water sediment loads. The
spatial resolution of the optical remote sensing sensors is obvi-
ously lower (1  1 km for MOderate Resolution Imaging Spec-
troradiometer, MODIS) than the one used in the previously
reported studies (between 10 and 30 m for Landsat and SPOT
images). However, the latter potential limitation is largely
compensated by the spatial (synoptic view) and temporal (long
lasting time series, 9 year for MODIS, daily data) coverage offered
by the optical satellite observations. Algorithms initially developed
in the open ocean for estimating SPM were based on the co-
variation of the phytoplankton Chlorophyll a and suspended
matter concentration. This assumption is not valid in the coastal
ocean where the sources of particulate matter are heterogeneous,
and usually independent from the phytoplankton dynamics
(IOCCG, 2000). The assessment of SPM loads in coastal waters is
therefore based on the strong positive correlation existing
between the marine reflectance in the red part of the visible
spectrum and the amount of particulate matter present in the
water body. Accordingly, various single band general (Nechad
et al., 2010) or regional (Froidefond et al., 2002, 2004;
Vantrepotte et al., 2011a) inversion algorithms have been devel-
oped in recent years providing SPM estimates with a satisfying
accuracy.
The objective of this work is to illustrate the co-variation
between surface SPM concentration and the mud banks
resuspension and migration processes and therefore demon-
strate the potential for ocean color SPM estimates for investi-
gating the dynamics of French Guiana mud banks and its
impacts on these coastal waters. In the frame of this study, SPM
spatio-temporal variability in the French Guiana coastal waters
is analyzed from MODIS monthly time series covering the time
period June 2002 to November 2010. First, the presence of
significant interannual changes in water masses turbidity over
the MODIS 8-yr period is evaluated using non-parametric
statistical analyses. In addition, a detailed description of the
temporal patterns in SPM loads over the French Guiana coast is
provided from the decomposition of the MODIS monthly time
series into a seasonal, an irregular and a trend-cycle term using
the Census X-11 procedure which advantages for describing the
seasonality and non-linear long term changes in biogeochem-
ical products have been previously emphasized from various
applications on satellite time series (Vantrepotte and Mélin,
2009; Vantrepotte et al., 2011b; Mélin et al., 2011). Further,
the identified temporal patterns are discussed and related to
the influence of the local and larger scale environmental
forcings.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Ocean color data
MODIS-derived remote sensing reflectance, Rrs, at the 1  1 km2
spatial resolution, were acquired from the NASA Goddard Distrib-
uted Archive Center (reprocessing 2009.1) for the time period June
2002 to November 2010, using the standard algorithm for cloud
detection. In practice, monthly time series (N ¼ 102) were consid-
ered in order to optimize the spatial coverage of the investigated
region. These monthly data have been computed by averaging, for
a given month and for each satellite pixel, the daily SPM maps
derived from the MODIS reflectance measurements.
2.2. Suspended matter concentration estimates
A recent study stressed that SPM can reliably be assessed in
coastal turbid waters from the water marine reflectance in the red
part of the visible spectrum which variability is mostly driven by
the water particulate matter content (Nechad et al., 2010). The
assessment of the suspended particulate matter concentration
(SPM, in g m
3) from the radiometric measurement of Rrs was
performed accordingly using this generic single band algorithm
expressed as follows:
A$rw
TSM ¼ þB (1)
1
rw =C
where rw corresponds to the water reflectance (with rw ¼ Rrs$ p)
and A, B and C the coefficients of the nonlinear regression. In the
context of the present study we use rw (678) which corresponds to
the MODIS band in the red.
This formulation has been regionally adapted to the coastal
waters of French Guiana allowing better estimates of the SPM
concentration than the general relationship by Nechad et al. (2010)
for the studied region. Equation parameters A, B and C were equal
to 260, 1.092 and 0.142, respectively (Vantrepotte et al., 2011a). This
algorithm was based on in situ SPM values collected during various
cruises in the corresponding region gathering SPM loads ranging
from 3 to 325 g m
3 (average of 34 g m
3) and has been validated
against in situ data (SPM estimated/SPM measured ¼ 1.11, variation
coefficient ¼ 30%, mean average relative difference ¼ 23%;
Vantrepotte et al., 2011a).
2.3. Environmental forcings
Various descriptors have been considered in order to describe
the temporal variation in the environmental conditions over the
MODIS time period analyzed. Information on the liquid discharges
and surface particulate matter concentration delivered by the
Amazon River to the marine domain were assessed from the ORE-
HYBAM at the Obidos (Brazil) station (http://www.ore-hybam.org/
). Wind stress and wind speed as well as swell parameters (height,
period and direction) were computed from the NOAA-Wavewatch-
III model (http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/index2.shtml) and
then averaged over an area encompassing the coastal waters of
French Guiana (3e7 N; 50e55 W).
2.4. Statistical analyses
The analysis of time series of SPM concentration and environ-
mental forcing descriptors have been analyzed in order to identify
the temporal patterns, including long term changes and seasonal
variation over the considered MODIS time period. The temporal
series analysis was conducted at the level of each grid point, taking
 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34
into account the spatial variations in the temporal coverage of the
data record. In practice, if valid data values for a given month m (for
example January) and grid point are present less than 50% of the
years (over a potential maximum of 8), all values for m are
removed, in effect creating for that grid point time series with an
annual cycle of varying length, or period, p < 12 (for the example,
from February to December). Among these series, those with more
than 25% of missing values are excluded. Occasional gaps remaining
in the series have been conversely filled using the eigen vector
filtering method (Ibanez and Conversi, 2002; see the detailed
methods in Vantrepotte and Mélin, 2009, 2011; Vantrepotte et al.,
2011b; Mélin et al., 2011).
A time series X(t) (here the monthly series of SPM) can be
decomposed as X(t) ¼ S(t) þ T(t) þ I(t), where S, T and I represent,
respectively, the seasonal, the trend-cycle, and the irregular (or
residual) component. In practice, this decomposition has been
performed by using the Census X-11 method which is based on an
iterative bandpass filter algorithm that explicitly allows the
consideration of inter-annual variations in the seasonal cycle shape
(Pezzulli et al., 2005; Vantrepotte and Mélin, 2011). The relative
part of variance of the initial series associated with the component
S(t), I(t) and T(t) can be then estimated in order to identify the main
spatial patterns of temporal variability. The computation of the
trend-cycle term derived from the X-11 decomposition procedure
has been shown to be particularly adapted for describing non-
linear patterns from various applications performed on diverse
ocean color products (Vantrepotte and Mélin, 2011; Vantrepotte
et al., 2011a,b; Mélin et al., 2011). In addition, the presence of
significant monotonic change in the data over the period investi-
gated has been assessed using the seasonal Kendall test applied on
X(t). The amplitude of the observed changes (in % yr
1) has been
quantified using the Sen’s slope estimator (Gilbert, 1987). The
Census X-11 procedure has been applied also applied on the
monthly averaged wind, river discharges and swell data in order to
be consistent with the MODIS temporal resolution.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. SPM distribution over the French Guiana coastal domain
The 8-yr average SPM concentration derived from the MODIS
marine reflectance reveals the presence of high SPM values within
a continuous coastal band covering the whole coastal domain of
French Guiana (Fig. 1). SPM concentration varies from few g m
3
(<3 g m
3) in the offshore regions (w30 km from the coast) to more
than 70 g m
3 for the most nearshore pixels (>10 mg m
3, 10 km
from the coast) in agreement with in situ measurements (Loisel
et al., 2009). Note however that the maximal SPM loads observed
from the current MODIS data set remain at the lower end of esti-
mates previously documented in the same region and computed
from high resolution SPOT images (reaching up to 400 g m
3,
Froidefond et al., 2002, 2004). The latter feature is explained by the
fact that reflectance measurement provided by the MODIS sensor
does not allow to capture the most ultra nearshore marine domain
due to the presence of clouds, bright pixels and adjacency effects
(Santer and Schmechtig, 2000). Further, note that the consideration
of monthly data for the present study tends to smooth the water
SPM content especially when compared with high resolution daily
images which enable, for instance, to account for varying tidal
conditions that induces significant spatial modulation in the water
SPM content (Froidefond et al., 2004).
Some peculiar patterns however mark the presence of mud
banks in the latter area with typical offshore extension particularly
visible in front of Kourou (5 90 4100 N; 52 370 3300 W) and northern
Cayenne (4 560 1100 N; 52180 3600 W). The spatial correspondence
27
Fig. 1. MODIS 8-year average SPM concentration (g m
3) over the Guiana coastal
waters.
between these mud banks and the MODIS SPM concentration has
been checked from the concomitant SPOT images (Figs. 2 and 3)
acquired at the beginning (September 2003 for the Kourou and
Cayenne mud banks, respectively) and at the end (August 2010 for
both sites) of the considered time series. The comparison between
MODIS SPM maps and SPOT images indicates that the SPM spatial
patterns depicted correspond more likely to the subtidal part of the
leading edge of the mud banks particularly affected by resus-
pension processes (Gratiot et al., 2007). Further, high SPM
concentrations also encompass the turbid plume associated with
this part of the bank which is oriented northeastward following the
direction of the Guyana current system. Conversely, the very
nearshore inter and subtidal part of the bank often corresponds to
masked (i.e. “flagged”) areas although it can occasionally and
partially be captured from the MODIS measurements. From the
latter comparisons, it can be assumed that a threshold of about
13 g m
3 can be used to significantly delineate areas associated
with the subtidal part of the Guianese mud banks.
3.2. Temporal variability in SPM loads
The trend analysis of the SPM concentration over the 8 years
MODIS monthly time period within the French Guiana coastal
waters reveals the presence of strong positive or negative long term
changes in particulate matter loads reaching up to 6% per year
(Fig. 4). Interestingly, these areas present patchy distributions
showing with a clear alternation between increasing and
decreasing SPM regions (Fig. 4). Note that these strong SPM trend
regions are separated by thinner areas where the SPM concentra-
tion remained unchanged over the MODIS time period considered
(Fig. 4).
Two couples of decreasing and increasing SPM areas can be
therefore identified over the coastal waters of French Guiana: one
in front of the Kourou region and the other one in the Cayenne
region (Fig. 4). These long term changes in the marine turbidity,
which can be captured from changes in the optical characteristics of
these waters, clearly reflect the impact of the migration of the
corresponding Guianese mud banks. The morphodynamical
processes driving the mud banks migration have been extensively
documented in previous works (Augustinus, 1978; Froidefond et al.,
1988; Eisma et al., 1991; Lefebvre et al., 2004; Gardel and Gratiot,
28 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34

Fig. 2. Comparison between SPM spatial distributions (g m
3) derived from MODIS monthly data and concurrent SPOT images in August 2003 (a,b) and September 2010 (c,d) in the
region corresponding to the Kourou mud bank and showing the location of the mud flat and associated turbid plume. Grey areas correspond to flagged data.

2005; Gratiot et al., 2007; Winterwerp et al., 2007; Anthony et al.,
2008). Basically, it can be described as follows. The back of the bank
is composed by consolidated mud. This part of the mud bank, not
protected by subtidal soft mud, is eroded and fluidized essentially
through the action of waves as well as in a lesser extent through the
influence of tidal and wind-induced geostrophic currents (Anthony
et al., 2008). The particulate matter so mobilized is then trans-
ported to the leading edge of the bank resulting in a displacement
of the mud bank along the coastline following to the direction of
the residual coastal currents system here oriented from the
southeast to northwest (e.g. Anthony and Dolique, 2004; Allison
and Lee, 2004). Considering this conceptual scheme, it can be
assumed that the position of the mud banks at the beginning of the
MODIS time series includes the SPM decreasing area and the inter-
trend area (representing the initial front of the bank). Conversely,
the position of the Kourou and Cayenne mud banks at the end of
the MODIS series correspond to the regions encompassing inter-
trend area and the SPM increasing pixels. The previous assump-
tion is confirmed from the corresponding SPOT images which
provide a detailed description of the mud banks position at
different time steps (Fig. 4).
The previous framework has been considered for deriving, from
the previously depicted trend SPM patterns (i.e. upward,
downward and inter-trend areas), various characteristics of the
coastal waters significantly affected by the particulate matter
originating from the mud banks. These characteristics, including for
instance information on the alongshore and offshore extension of
these turbid areas, deliver indirect information on the mud banks
morphology and dynamics. The marine domain significantly
impacted by the mud banks resuspension processes located in front
of Kourou and Cayenne can be estimated to be on average of 20 km
long and 13 km wide. The corresponding surface (w260 km2),
although not being a straightforward estimate of the mud banks
surface, falls within the range of previous computations performed
in the same region from higher resolution imagery (Gardel and
Gratiot, 2005). In addition to these morphological aspects, the
following of the spatio-temporal evolution of the SPM concentra-
tion within the coastal regions showing significant trends in SPM
can also be used for assessing mud banks dynamics. This is illus-
trated from the timeespace diagrams computed for two alongshore
transects crossing the SPM trends regions (Fig. 5). The temporal
evolution of the transect barycentre (Gardel and Gratiot, 2005)
corresponding to the highest SPM values (>13 m g
3) allows for an
indirect estimate of the mud bank migration rates. Average
approximates derived from the MODIS SPM data for the Kourou
and Cayenne mud banks range between 1.6 and 2 km year
1. This
 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34 29

Fig. 3. Comparison between SPM spatial distributions (g m
3) derived from MODIS monthly data and concurrent SPOT images in August 2003 (a,b) and September 2010 (c,d) in the
region corresponding to the Cayenne mud bank and showing the location of the mud flat and associated turbid plume. Grey areas correspond to flagged data.

falls into the order of magnitude of previous computations per- acceleration during the last decade of the mud banks migration
formed from SPOT and Landsat imagery (Froidefond et al., 1988; over the French Guiana coast.
Gardel and Gratiot, 2005). Further, our results which are closer to It is worth underlining that the latter estimates of the mud
those by Gardel and Gratiot (2005) tend to confirm the probable banks morphology and migration velocities derived from ocean

Fig. 4. Significant trends in SPM detected over the French Guiana coast from the 8 year MODIS time series (a) (in % year
1) and comparison with the mud banks estimated position
and morphology (b). SPOT estimates of the location of the mud flat and subtidal extension of the mud bank at the beginning and end of the MODIS time series considered are
represented by white and dark grey surfaces and dashed lines, respectively. The subtidal mud bank extension has been determined from swell damping characteristics (SPOT
images).
30 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34
Fig. 5. Time space diagrams computed over two along shore transect crossing the areas presenting significant 2002e2010 trends in SPM in the Kourou (a) and Cayenne (b) coastal
regions (from points A to B and C to D, respectively, see Fig. 4a). The red line shows the position of the transect barycentre associated with the highest SPM (see text). (For
interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
color imagery are conditioned by the spatial resolution of the
optical sensor used in the frame of this study (i.e. MODIS, 1  1 km).
However, the general agreement between MODIS derived esti-
mates and those inferred from high resolution aerial photographs
and satellite images (e.g. SPOT imager) confirm the potential for
SPM ocean color data to be used as a proxy for monitoring mud
banks impacts on the adjacent coastal domain and consequently for
monitoring mud banks dynamics. Further, although the limitation
represented by the optical sensor spatial resolution, using quanti-
tative estimates of SPM concentration derived from ocean color
remote sensing allow for a detailed description of the temporal
evolution of the SPM loads associated with the mud banks
dynamics. This information delivered by these continuous long
lasting measurements of high temporal resolution are hardly
available from other approaches and can help to elucidate the
actual impact of the hydrodynamic forcing on mud banks migration
processes and therefore deliver relevant insight on the underlying
processes.
3.3. Seasonal and non-linear patterns in SPM loads
The outputs of the Census X-11 procedure provide a detailed
description of the SPM temporal patterns corresponding to the
different areas of interest detected from the trend analysis per-
formed over the French Guiana coastal domain. In practice, zonal
average of X-11 trend-cycle, seasonal and irregular time series
were computed within each increasing or decreasing SPM areas
associated with the Cayenne and Kourou mud banks (Fig. 6). The
seasonality explain a moderate part of the SPM temporal vari-
ability in the previous areas with a relative contribution of the
component S(t) to the total variance of the series being lower than
25%. The major part of the temporal changes in SPM is explained
by interannual patterns (>60%) while sub-annual evolution
accounts for the remaining part of variability in the SPM data
(w15%).
The seasonal cycle in the SPM loads associated with the Kourou
and Cayenne mud banks are shown in the Fig. 6. Basically, maximal
SPM concentrations usually occur from September to November
even though a strong year-to-year variation in the SPM seasonal
cycle amplitude and shape. The seasonality observed in the SPM
concentration can be related to that of the hydrodynamic condi-
tions. The high SPM data between September and November
coincide with the beginning of high swell (and high winds) time
period in the French Guiana coastal waters. Similar observations
have been reported by Gratiot et al. (2007) who showed that the
effect of waves on mud re-suspension processes is particularly
marked at the onset of the high wave energy period (typically from
October to May) which corresponds to that of the trade winds
season. The previous authors have related this feature to a favored
mobilization of the bottom particulate matter after a long lasting
low energy waves time period when important quantities of mud
are readily available. The mobilized particulate matter is then
preferentially transported toward the coast due to the action of
swell and currents (Allison and Lee, 2004). However, the corre-
sponding ultra nearshore areas are often not or only partially visible
from the current MODIS observations (see Section 3.1). This feature
might explain the decrease of particulate loads in the sub-tidal part
of the mud banks and associated turbid plumes regions after the
beginning of the highest wave season.
The temporal evolution of the X-11 trend-cycle term reveals that
the long term increasing or decreasing changes detected in the SPM
are not monotonic but correspond more likely to strong non-linear
features. A strong spatial consistency in the SPM interannual vari-
ations is found within the different areas considered as emphasized
by the low dispersion around the different zonal average signals
(Fig. 6). Further, the long term evolution in the SPM loads are
almost identical between the upward and downward SPM areas
corresponding to the Kourou and Cayenne mud banks system, as
emphasized by the highly significant correlation found between
the corresponding time series (r2 > 0.9, p < 0.001). This underlines
the parallel dynamics of the Cayenne and Kourou mud banks and
their similar sensitivity to environmental forcing.
First, sharp downward or upward shifts in SPM loads are
observed from 2005 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2010, respectively,
consistently for the two mud banks areas considered (Fig. 6). The
fast decrease in SPM from 2005 to 2006 might translate
a concomitant sudden change in the regional environmental
conditions. The general increasing or decreasing SPM patterns can
indeed be associated with the successive mud banks migration
phases. Basically, the highly turbid waters observed both at the
beginning of the decreasing time series and at the end of the
increasing time series (Fig. 6) correspond preferentially to the front
part of the mud banks where the mud can be easily mobilized
through resuspension processes therefore explaining the high
turbidity of these marine waters. Conversely, the weak and stable
values of SPM until 2006 for the upward SPM time series corre-
spond to an inter-bank situation where the presence of consoli-
dated mud tends to lessen the impact of re-suspension processes
on the marine surface water characteristics (Fig. 6). The low SPM
loads from 2006 to 2010 associated with the decreasing SPM trend
average time series mark the impact of the remaining and less
concentrated mud located at the back of the bank (Fig. 6).
 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34 31

Fig. 6. X-11 terms regional statistics associated with the significant SPM trends areas associated with the Kourou (a: decreasing and b: increasing area) and Cayenne (c: decreasing
and d: increasing area) mud bank regions (see definition of the regions in Fig. 4). From the left to the right, panels show the average normalized time series for S(t) and T(t)
(blackline), respectively, with the envelope figuring the dispersion of the data around the regional average signal (mean þ 1 standard deviation).

Additionally to these long term general trends, higher frequency
modulations are also observed from the SPM X-11 trend-cycle time
series. Indeed, various sharp peak events of varying amplitude
lasting one year or less are visible on the SPM trend series are
identified both on the SPM increasing and decreasing time series.
These secondary oscillations are especially found at the beginning
of 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010.
The Census X-11 analysis was also similarly computed for
various variables describing potential concurrent interannual
changes in the hydrological and hydro-dynamical conditions over
the French Guiana coast (see Section 2.3).
Long term variations in hydrodynamic conditions have been
first investigated. The latter can induce evolution in the mud banks
re-suspension, erosion and therefore in sediments transport and
mud banks migration processes and can therefore potentially
explain the nonlinear trend patterns in SPM found within the
French Guiana coast. The action of swells reaching the nearshore
domain is known to be a major driving factor for the mud banks
32 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34

dynamics (Anthony et al., 2008; Gardel et al., 2011). Swells are
characterized by their direction, period and amplitude. The two
latter parameters (wave period and significant swell height, Fig. 7a)
do not present any significant interannual feature allowing an
explanation of the general long term pattern or the different peak
events reported for the SPM. Conversely, significant co-variation is
found between the SPM (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001 for downward and
upward time series, respectively) and swell direction interannual
evolutions. In particularly, our results suggest that more frequent
episodes of northern swell might favor re-suspension processes
and mud banks reworking in the turbid areas associated with the
Kourou and Cayenne mud banks (Fig. 7b). As a matter of fact, the
presence of a long lasting period of northward swell is for instance
observed before the sharp decrease in SPM after 2005 within the
SPM downward regions as well as during the abrupt increase in the
SPM upward areas from 2008. This result is in agreement with
recent works by Gardel et al. (2011) who showed that the punctual
arrival of distant swell generated by storms and cyclones in the
northern Atlantic might be responsible for relevant episodes of
mud-bank reworking and bar formation in the Kourou area. Note
that no direct co-variation exists between wind data for the period
2002e2010 (i.e. regional average wind speed and wind stress) and
the long term changes in SPM (not shown). The wind parameters
considered in the frame of this study correspond to regional
average over a large coastal zone (3e7 N; 50e55 W) that can
assumed to be representative of the long term evolution of this
forcing. However, detailed data on local wind changes might be
useful for assessing the exact role of this environmental forcing.
Besides variations in hydrodynamic forcings, the impact of long
term variation in terrestrial inputs has been also characterized. No
direct link between interannual changes in French Guiana local
river discharges (Kourou and Cayenne rivers), which remains stable
over the MODIS time period, and SPM concentration can be
established (not shown). This confirms the restricted impact of
these local forcings on the inputs of mud present over the Guianese
coastal waters as already underlined by previous works (e.g. Gardel
and Gratiot, 2005; Anthony et al., 2008). Conversely, a significant
co-variation is found between the long term evolution in the
Amazon River particulate matter concentration over the 2002e
2007 time period and the SPM trend patterns depicted for
Kourou and Cayenne mud banks regions (p < 0.001 for decreasing
areas and p < 0.05 for increasing areas). Especially, the high

Fig. 7. Time series and corresponding X-11 trend-cycle terms associated with the regional average (a,b) swell significant height and (c,d) direction (derived from the NOAA
Wavewatch-III, Model) as well as with (e,f) SPM concentration (g m
3) in the Amazon river surface waters measured at the Obidos station (Brazil, ORE-HYBAM measurement
network). The solid and dashed red lines in the panels, b, d and f show the normalized SPM X-11 trend-cycle series averaged within the downward and upward SPM areas identified
in the region of Kourou (see Fig. 4a). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 V. Vantrepotte et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 44 (2013) 25e34
frequency peak events increasing episodically the SPM loads at the
beginning of 2003, 2005 and 2007 are also clearly visible for the
trend patterns associated with SPM loads transported by the
Amazon River (Fig. 7). The fate of the particulate matter originating
from the Amazon River is diverse. A part of the SPM delivered to the
marine waters is catch northern to the Amazon River mouth due to
regional currents (Anthony et al., 2010). Although the underlying
complex processes still remain poorly understood (Anthony et al.,
2010), this trapped mud leads to the formation of huge banks
representing the source of the mud banks migrating over the
French Guiana coast. Another part of the Amazon particulate matter
reaches the coastal waters of the French Guiana on short timescale
(Eisma et al., 1991) and might therefore be responsible of sudden
increases in SPM concentration observed in the MODIS time series.
Interestingly, the long term decrease in SPM loads over the Kourou
and Cayenne areas between 2002 and 2006 is also associated with
a concurrent long term diminution of about 35% of the inputs in
particulate matter from the Amazon River (Fig. 7c). This long term
changes in the Amazon River solid discharge has been previously
documented by Martinez et al. (2009) and is not related to a parallel
evolution in the corresponding liquid discharge. The impact of this
interannual decrease in the Amazon sediments inputs is presum-
ably masked by the predominant impact of mud banks migration
processes on the local changes in SPM documented in the present
study. However, it can be assumed that the long term decrease in
the Amazon solid discharges between 2002 and 2006 might have
played an additional role on the observed downward SPM evolu-
tion over this time period. This assumption can unfortunately not
be confirmed from the current data set due to the lack of contin-
uous measurements of Amazon sediment loads from 2007 to 2010.
These results confirm however the predominant role of Amazon
River inputs on the SPM dynamics, including long term and high
frequency variations, within the French Guiana coastal domain.
4. Conclusions
This study illustrates for the first time the potential for SPM
estimates derived from ocean color reflectance measurements for
characterizing and monitoring the impact of mud banks re-
suspension and migration processes in the French Guiana coastal
waters. The comparison between MODIS derived SPM maps and
corresponding high resolution SPOT images indicates that high SPM
loads correspond essentially to the frontal subtidal part of the mud
banks as well as to the associated turbid plume. The analysis of
8-year MODIS time series reveals the presence of strong trends in
SPM data that can be significantly associated with the mud banks
migration processes affecting the French Guiana coastal domain.
Ocean color SPM derived estimates of the surface marine area
affected by the mud banks re-suspension as well as of the mud banks
migration rates are in agreement to those obtained from previous
studies performed on SPOT or Landsat imagery. Despite a lower
spatial resolution when compared to the latter measurements, the
advantage of ocean color data stands mainly in its ability to describe
precisely seasonal and interannual patterns in surface SPM loads
providing an indirect description of the mud banks dynamics.
Both seasonal and interannual patterns in SPM concentrations
present a high consistency within and between the Kourou and
Cayenne mud bank areas. The SPM seasonality confirms that the
onset of the trade wind season corresponds to the most important
phase of mud mobilization (Gratiot et al., 2007). The detailed
description of the long term evolution in the MODIS-SPM data
suggests that the mud banks migration processes more likely
correspond to sharp nonlinear interannual patterns rather than to
gradual monotonic features. In addition, higher frequency peak
events have been shown to affect the amount of particulate matter
33
present within the coastal waters of French Guiana. These inter-
annual changes in SPM have been significantly associated with
concurrent changes in the intensity of the terrestrial inputs from
the Amazon River. This emphasizes the importance of a sustainable
monitoring of the amount of particulate matter delivered by this
riverine system to the marine domain as it is currently performed
by the ORE-HYBAM measurements network. Additionally, inter-
annual changes in SPM have been also related to the orientation of
the swell reaching the coastal waters of French Guiana. Indeed,
a greater occurrence of northward swells seems to favor mud
resuspension and mud banks reworking confirming results from
previous works (Gardel et al., 2011).
Apart the latter environmental descriptors, no clear evidence of
concurrent changes has been emphasized between SPM long term
changes and the other ancillary parameters considered in this study
for describing changes in the hydrodynamic conditions (i.e. wind
stress and swell height and period). A consideration of the local
behavior of these parameters as well as the inclusion of additional
descriptors such as those derived from altimetry might help to
further elucidate our observations. Further, the observed interan-
nual changes in the banks migration velocities might be related to
morphology of the coastline (including the length of the shoreline
linear and its orientation, the vicinity from local rivers, variations in
the seabed nature.) which impacts on the mud banks dynamics
have been clearly demonstrated (Gardel and Gratiot, 2005). In that
context, our results have clearly emphasized the interest of using
SPM ocean color data for modeling purpose aiming to integrate the
impact of these different factors which effects are intimately
interrelated through complex relationships. The use of ocean color
data at higher spatial resolution (MERIS, 500 m) as well as the
integration of a cloud mask allowing a better distinction between
cloudy and highly turbid areas would provide a better description
of the SPM nearshore patterns.
The method presented in this work and illustrated from an
application on the French Guiana coastal waters will be applied in
future works on ocean color SPM data computed over a larger
spatial window encompassing coastal areas from the Amazon to
the Orinoco river mouths. The analysis of ocean color time series in
the latter coastal band would provide new insights on the fate of
the terrestrial particulate matter delivered by the Amazon and its
actual impact on the Guianese coast, which currently remain to be
better characterized.
Acknowledgments
This research has been funded by CNES through the TOSCA/
Coulcot project as well as by the GlobCoast project supported by the
Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR, Paris). We are grateful to
the “Papi Jo” crew. The authors also would like to thank the NASA
MODIS Project and the NASA/GSFC/DAAC for the production and
distribution of MODIS data. The ORE-HYBAM program is acknow-
ledged for providing Amazon River discharges data. The NOAA
Wavewatch group is acknowledged for providing swell and wind
data.
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