Study on Vertical Distribution of Suspended Sediment Concentration in Coastal Waters Based on Solid–Liquid Two-Phase Flow Theory

Suspended sediment transport has always been one of the basic issues in the study of ecological environment in estuarine and coastal waters. One of the important indicators to study the characteristics of suspended sediment transport is the vertical distribution of suspended sediment concentration, which is related to the calculation of the suspended sediment transport rate. In this paper, based on the motion equation of the solid–liquid two-phase flow, a vertical distribution formula of suspended sediment concentration for coastal waters is deduced theoretically. The applicability verification and error analysis of the formula are carried out with a large number of measured data from Jinzhou harbor and Daishan sea area, and the comparison study is made with other commonly used formulas. The results show that the formula derived in this paper has good applicability and accuracy. The formula can reflect the vertical distribution law of the suspended sediment concentration on the whole. Compared with the Lane-Kalinsk formula, the calculated value of the formula derived in this paper is in more consistent with the measured value.