Satellite-derived particulate organic carbon flux in the Changjiang River through different stages of the Three Gorges Dam

As the largest Asian river and fourth world's largest river by water flow, the Changjiang River transports a considerable amount of terrigenous particulate organic carbon (POC) into ocean, which has experienced significant pressure from human activities. We conducted monthly sampling (from May 2015 to May 2016) at Datong, the most downstream non-tidal hydrological station along the Changjiang River. To monitor long-term POC variations, we developed a two-step POC algorithm for Landsat satellite data and calculated monthly POC flux during 2000–2016. Monthly POC flux ranged from a minimum of 1.4 × 104 t C in February 2016 to a maximum of 52.04 × 104 t C in May 2002, with a mean of 13.04 × 104 t C/month. At Datong, monthly POC flux was positively exponentially related to water flow (N = 118, R = 0.69, p