Estimation of water surface elevations for the Everglades, Florida

Abstract

The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) is an integrated network of real-time water-level monitoring gages and modeling methods that provides scientists and managers with current (2000–present) online water surface and water depth information for the freshwater domain of the Greater Everglades. This integrated system presents data on a 400-m square grid to assist in (1) large-scale field operations; (2) integration of hydrologic and ecologic responses; (3) supporting biological and ecological assessment of the implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP); and (4) assessing trophic-level responses to hydrodynamic changes in the Everglades. This paper investigates the radial basis function multiquadric method of interpolation to obtain a continuous freshwater surface across the entire Everglades using radio-transmitted data from a network of water-level gages managed by the US Geological Survey (USGS), the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and the Everglades National Park (ENP). Since the hydrological connection is interrupted by canals and levees across the study area, boundary conditions were simulated by linearly interpolating along those features and integrating the results together with the data from marsh stations to obtain a continuous water surface through multiquadric interpolation. The absolute cross-validation errors greater than 5 cm correlate well with the local outliers and the minimum distance between the closest stations within 2000-m radius, but seem to be independent of vegetation or season.