Information on the concentration of suspended sediments in coastal waters is necessary for the understanding and management of the coastal environment. Traditionally, suspended sediment concentration （SSC） has been measured by time-consuming and costly boat surveys which allow the accurate measurement of SSC for single points in space and time. In order to obtain the instantaneous measurement of SSC, a variety of remote sensing method has been adopted. Remote sensing from airborne and spaceborne sensors has been proven to be a useful adjunct to such surveys as it provides an instantaneous and synoptic view of sediments that would otherwise be unavailable. Dominique Durand and Jerome Bijaoui in 2000 presented a feasible study on optical remote sensing of shallow-water environmental parameters. Yogesh C. Agrawal and H. C. Pottsmith in 2001 tried to use Laser Diffraction Sensors to measure Concentration and Size Distribution of Suspended Sediment. Francisco Pedocchi and Marcelo H. Garcia in 2006 made an evaluation of the LISST-ST instrument for suspended particle size distribution and settling velocity measurements. H.K.Ha and W-Y.Hsu in 2009 tried to measure suspended cohesive sediment concentration using ADV backscatter strength. Shuisen Chen, Ligang Fang in 2009 managed to use remote sensing of turbidity in seawater intrusion reaches of Pearl River Estuary. In this article, the brief review of most of the technologies or methods used to observe the suspended sediment concentration is executed. As the most powerful technology in the remote sensing, acoustic backscatter device is discussed in detail. A comparison between those traditional and modern technologies is made to clarify its future application and development.
