Tides and Inflows in the Mangroves of the Everglades
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The area comprised of the
drainage basins of Taylor Slough and canal C-111 in the southern
Everglades and nearshore embayments of Florida Bay is referred to as
the Southern Inland and Coastal System (SICS) (shown as red square in
figure at right). A major goal of the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan (www.evergladesplan.org) is to
improve the quality, quantity, timing, and distribution of flows
within the SICS area. Restoration and water-management decision
makers are relying heavily on scientists for insight into hydrologic
processes and hydrodynamic forces that govern flow and transport
through this endangered ecosystem. A two-dimensional, depth-averaged,
hydrodynamic surface-water model that also accounts for constituent
transport has been developed to simulate time-varying water levels,
flow velocities, and salinites within the SICS ecosystem.
A 148 by 98 (E-W by N-S) rectangular grid of 1000-ft square cells was used to cover the model domain. Physical properties describing the ecosystem, e.g., land-surface elevations, vegetation types, flow-resistance coefficients, wind-sheltering parameters, and factors defining hydrologic processes, e.g., evapotranspiration rates, ground-water fluxes, rainfall, were assigned to each cell. Freshwater inflows at the Taylor Slough and C-111 canal boundaries are used in conjunction with water levels and salinities specified at the Florida Bay boundary to conduct flow simulations at a 15-minute time step.
The following 5 and 6-month computer animation sequences of daily water depths were derived from a continuous simulation of flows for August 1996 to June 1998. Different shades of blue indicate changing water depths, scaled in feet, and gray identifies dry areas. The alternate transitioning of the wetlands between wet and dry seasons is clearly demonstrated by the animation sequences. Water depths and hydroperiods simulated by the model are providing useful insight into the ecosystem behavior for evaluating restoration actions and management decisions, as well as for conducting ecological investigations.
The following files presenting preliminary model results can be viewed with Windows Media Player, Real Player, or other animation viewing software.
sics0896-1296.avi 8/1/96 to
12/31/96 4666 kb
sics0197-0697.avi 1/1/97 to
6/30/97 4449 kb
sics0797-1297.avi 7/1/97 to
12/31/97 5384 kb
sics0198-0698.avi 1/1/98 to
6/9/98 4639 kb
The following file containing the complete 22-month-long animation sequence is in Windows Media format and can be viewed with Windows Media Player. Please note you may have to download the file first, then open it from within Windows Media Player.
sics0896-0698.wmv 8/1/96 to
6/9/98 4425 kb
The following links are the same files compressed for quicker download.
sics0896-1296.zip - AVI format 8/1/96
to 12/31/96 3174 kb
sics0197-0697.zip - AVI
format 1/1/97 to 6/30/97 2978
kb
sics0797-1297.zip - AVI
format 7/1/97 to 12/31/97 3710 kb
sics0198-0698.zip - AVI
format 1/1/98 to 6/9/98
3222 kb
sics0896-0698.zip - WMV
format 8/1/96 to 6/9/98 1810 kb
sics0896-1296.avi.gz
- AVI format 8/1/96 to 12/31/96 3166 kb
sics0197-0697.avi.gz
- AVI format 1/1/97 to 6/30/97 2971
kb
sics0797-1297.avi.gz
- AVI format 7/1/97 to 12/31/97 3701 kb
sics0198-0698.avi.gz
- AVI format 1/1/98 to
6/9/98 3215 kb
sics0896-0698.wmv.gz
- WMV format 8/1/96 to 6/9/98 1810
kb
