In the context of EMPHASE project (ANR-FRQ), two fields campaigns were carried out to determine the settling velocity and properties of suspended sediments during a semi-diurnal tidal cycle, as well as hydrodynamic conditions and water properties. The two sampling stations Bordeaux (Garonne Tidal River) and Fort Medoc (Gironde EStuary) were representative of two regions: a tidal river dominated by fresh water and an estuary affected by salty or brackish waters, inside the same land-sea continuum. Quasi in-situ measurements of settling velocity were carried out with a recently-patented instrument named System for the Characterisation of Aggregates and Flocs (SCAF).

In the framework of the ANR AMORAD project, the METEOR cruises (Grasso, 2017) aimed at deploying the ‘Gironde Estuary Mouth MEasurement Stations’ (GEMMES) to measure hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics at the mouth of the Gironde Estuary and on the West Gironde Mud Patch (SW France, Bay of Biscay). Measurements were carried out between November 2016 and December 2017: i) from a buoy station around 20-m water depth (GEMMES-20), collecting sub-surface data of temperature, salinity and turbidity; and ii) a benthic station around 40-m water depth (GEMMES-40), collecting data of current velocity and turbidity. Bottom and surface water samples were regularly collected to calibrate turbidity measurements to SPM concentrations.