Optical and acoustic sensors have been widely used in laboratory experiments and field studies to investigate suspended particulate matter concentration and particle size over the last four decades. Both methods face a serious challenge as laboratory and in-situ calibrations are usually required. Furthermore, in coastal and estuarine environments, the coexistence of mud and sand often results in multimodal particle size distributions, amplifying erroneous measurements. This paper proposes a new approach of combining a pair of optical-acoustic signals to estimate the total concentration and sediment composition of a mud/sand mixture in an efficient way without an extensive calibration. More specifically, we first carried out a set of 54 bimodal size regime experiments to derive empirical functions of optical-acoustic signals, concentrations, and mud/sand fractions. The functionalities of these relationships were then tested and validated using more complex multimodal size regime experiments over 30 optical-acoustic pairs of 5 wavelengths (420, 532, 620, 700, 852 nm) and 6 frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 MHz). In the range of our data, without prior knowledge of particle size distribution, combinations between optical wavelengths 620-700 nm and acoustic frequencies 4-6 MHz predict mud/sand fraction and total concentration with the variation < 10% for the former and < 15% for the later. This approach therefore enables the robust estimation of suspended sediment concentration and composition, which is particularly useful in cases where calibration data is insufficient.

Quantifying and characterizing suspended sediment is essential to successful monitoring and management of estuaries and coastal environments. To quantify suspended sediment, optical and acoustic backscatter instruments are often used. Optical backscatter systems are more sensitive to fine particles ($<63 \mu m$) and flocs, whereas acoustic backscatter systems are more responsive to larger sand grains ($>63 \mu m$). It is thus challenging to estimate the relative proportion of sand or mud in environments where both types of sediment are present. The suspended sediment concentration measured by these devices depends on the composition of that sediment, so it is also difficult to measure concentration with a single instrument when the composition varies. The objective of this paper is to develop a methodology for characterizing the relative proportions of sand and mud in mixed sediment suspensions by comparing the response of simultaneous optical and acoustic measurements. We derive a sediment composition index (SCI) that can be used to directly predict the relative fraction of sand in suspension. Here we verify the theoretical response of these optical and acoustic instruments in laboratory experiments, and successfully apply this approach to field measurements on the ebb-tidal delta of Ameland Inlet in the Netherlands. Increasing sand content decreases SCI, which was verified in laboratory experiments. A reduction in SCI is seen under more energetic conditions when sand resuspension is expected. Conversely, the SCI increases in calmer conditions when sand settles out, leaving behind finer sediment. This approach provides crucial knowledge of suspended sediment composition in mixed sediment environments.