Variability of near-surface total suspended matter concentrations in the Dutch coastal zone of the North Sea : climatological study on the suspended matter concentrations in the North Sea : december 2001

Provides detailed information on the statistics of the natural total suspended matter concentrations (TSM). Such information is needed for testing hypotheses about foreseeable changes in the turbidity levels originating from potential human activities. The aim of this report is to give basic information on the distribution of the near surface TSM in the Dutch coastal zone. Most of the information is visualised by charts and graphs, which are commented on. Furthermore, this report merely presents overservations and correlations. A scientific analyses and discussion, including a comparison with the literature, is presented elsewere. Major findings are that the observed TSM values have a three-parameter lognormal statistical distribution (Johnson and Kotz, 1970) and that they are correlated with the long-wave energy.