

30 to 



Diitonc* (Km) 



Figure 4. LANDSAT band 5 image of central Louisiana coast taken on 

 9 February 1979. Light tones indicate high turbidity. Inset shows suspended- 

 sediment concentrations along transect line A-A' from lower Atchafalaya 

 River outlet to seaward edge of sediment plume (data courtesy R. H. II. Cun- 

 ningham, USACOE, New Orleans). 



current meters at the locations given in Figure 6. Thirty-five days of data were obtained 

 at station I, five days at station 2, and over a year of continous readings have been 

 obtained at station 3. 



Current speeds on the inner shelf at station I are typically 10 to 30 cm/sec; 

 direction of flow, although setting to the northwest, is influenced strongly in this 

 February data set by the passage of cold fronts every 5 to 7 days, which sequentially 

 produce winds first from the southwest, then from the northwest. Current speeds at 

 station 2, just outside the bay, are 10 to 50 cm/sec and occur as well-defined pulses 

 related to stage of the tide. Direction, however does not fully reverse as a result of tidal 

 effects, but instead is dominated by river flow to the south from Atchafalaya Bay and 

 flow to the west from the westerly drift component of coastal waters. In Atchafalaya 

 Bay current speeds are substantially higher, reaching values of 40 to 80 cm/sec. Rise and 

 fall in current speed is coincident with tidal period in the bay. Direction of flow is 

 oriented down the navigation channel and does not change with stage of the tide. 



46 



