SEDIMENT AND NUTRIENTS (HERE NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS) ARE TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WATER QUALITY CONSTITUENTS IN THE FLUVIAL SYSTEM. RIVERS EXPORT 12.6 BILLION TONS OF NUTRIENT-LADEN SEDIMENT TO THE OCEAN PER YEAR AND THUS CHANGES IN THE SEDIMENT DELIVERED THROUGH RIVERS IS A MAJOR FACTOR CONTROLLING COSTAL HABITATS. AS CONVENTIONAL POLLUTANTS IN THE USA CLEAN WATER ACT RIVER SEDIMENT/ NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS MANDATE WATER TREATMENT PLANT DESIGN AND SEDIMENT/NUTRIENTS IN FLUVIAL WATER CAN ALSO AFFECT AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS (E.G. PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOMS) COASTAL ZONE BENTHIC ENVIRONMENTS AND OCEAN BIOGEOCHEMISTRY (E.G. OXYGEN CONCENTRATION) BY CONTROLLING SUNLIGHT AND MICRONUTRIENT AVAILABILITY. DESPITE THIS SOCIETAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE LESS THAN 10% OF GLOBAL RIVERS ARE MONITORED FOR THESE WATER QUALITY DYNAMICS BY IN SITU GAUGES AND THE NUMBER OF SUCH GAUGES HAS RECENTLY SHARPLY DECLINED. THESE BIASED AND TEMPORALLY AND SPATIALLY LIMITED IN SITU MEASUREMENTS MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO RELY SOLELY ON GROUND-BASED GAUGES FOR INVESTIGATION OF THE SPATIAL/TEMPORAL VARIATIONS OF WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY IN SURFACE WATER BODIES OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE. METHODS FOR WATER QUALITY MONITORING ARE AMONG THE EARLIEST USES OF REMOTE SENSING OF WATER YET THESE SUFFER FROM CLASSIC DRAWBACKS OF SPATIAL/ TEMPORAL RESOLUTIONS INHERENT TO ALL REMOTE SENSING. LAND SURFACE MODELS (LSM) IN CONTRAST SIMULATE ENERGY WATER AND CARBON FLUXES AT THE LAND SURFACE-ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE AT DAILY TIMESCALES ACROSS HUGE LAND AREAS. HOWEVER MOST LSM CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE ANY MODEL PHYSICS TO INCORPORATE WATER QUALITY SIMULATIONS AND OUR CAPABILITY TO MODEL AND PROJECT WATER QUALITY AT CONTINENTAL SCALES BOTH NOW AND IN THE FUTURE IS LIMITED. THEREFORE THIS PROPOSAL PLANS TO FUSE IN SITU DATA AND REMOTE SENSING WITH A LSM TO FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER PRESENT CAPABILITIES IN WATER QUALITY MODELLING. THE PROPOSAL WILL MODIFY THE VARIABLE INFILTRATION CAPACITY (VIC) LAND SURFACE MODEL BY INTEGRATING A MODULE THAT SIMULATES SEDIMENT NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS (SNIP) GENERATED FROM AND TRANSPORTED OVER CATCHMENTS AND RIVER CHANNELS.