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ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2026, V. 23, No. 5, pp. 382-400

Using satellite data to study the impact of tides on the Mezen River outflow into the Mezen Bay of the White Sea

O.Yu. Lavrova 1 , A.A. Zelenkova 2 , Ya.O. Alferyeva 3 , M.V. Vrublevsky 1 , T.Yu. Bocharova 1 
1 Space Research Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia
2 State Research Center for Space Hydrometeorology “Planeta”, Moscow, Russia
3 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 12.10.2026
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2026-23-5-382-400
The article examines the possibility of using satellite data to determine the impact of tidal movements on the outflow of the Mezen River into the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. High tides, reaching 9 m, are observed in the study area. Optical data from MSI (Multispectral Instrument) sensors of Sentinel-2 satellites and OLI (Operational Land Imager) sensors of Landsat-8, -9 satellites for April–October 2020–2025 were used. C-SAR (C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) images from Sentinel-1 satellites for 2020, 2021 and 2025 were used as radar data. A comprehensive analysis of satellite data, combined with data on tides, wind conditions, and river discharge, shows that turbidity maps compiled from high-spatial-resolution optical data allow determining the impact of tides on the outflow of the Mezen River with high probability. At low tide, the river’s turbid waters are carried several kilometers into the bay, forming a plume with an area of more than 50 km2. At high tide, the outflow is practically nonexistent; seawater can push 60 km upstream the river and “block” it. The study examines formation of the outflow as observed in the satellite images 1, 3 and 6 hours after high tide. It is shown that wind has no effect on the direction of outflow propagation, whereas an increase in water discharge during high water significantly changes the behavior of the outflow even at high tide. The use of radar images for this task is limited. They are useful for identifying areas of emersions and exposed seabed at low tide, as well as during formation of the ice cover, when young ice acts as a tracer of river outflow at low tide. Although hydrological surveys have been conducted repeatedly in this area in connection with the planned construction of a tidal power plant, so far no satellite monitoring of the Mezen River estuary has ever been undertaken.
Keywords: satellite remote sensing, sea surface, satellite radar, optical data, Mezen River, river outflow, freshened water plume, water turbidity, tidal phases, White Sea
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