Download or read book Analysis of Monthly Suspended Sediment Load in Rivers and Streams Using Linear Regression and Similar Precipitation Data written by Faith Echiejile and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suspended sediment impacts the water quality of streams and rivers by retaining and acting as a carrier for other contaminants, increasing turbidity, which can block light from getting to submerged vegetation and clog fish gills, amongst other environmental effects. Therefore, understanding its dynamics and prediction is crucial to environmental protection and water management. The objective of this study is to improve the prediction accuracy of suspended sediment load in rivers and streams by grouping monthly data of suspended sediment and water discharge into groups of similar precipitation values. Linear regression was used to predict the suspended sediment load, a dependent variable, as a function of the stream water discharge, an independent variable on four U.S. rivers and streams. This study used ten years of data for the suspended sediment load, stream water discharge, and precipitation for each river. Results from the traditional approach, which does not have precipitation data and is therefore ungrouped, were compared with results from the precipitation approach using the correlation coefficient (r) and the percent deviation. Out of the 21 groups investigated, 19 groups showed a lower percent deviation from the traditional approach. For the correlation coefficient values, 12 groups were higher than the traditional approach, while two groups had the same values as the traditional approach. Ten groups had correlation coefficient values between 0.90 to 0.97. Overall, the precipitation approach has improved the prediction accuracy of the suspended sediment load compared to the traditional approach.