Velocity Data (Canal and Wetland)

A complex network of canals, levees, and control structures, designed to control flooding and provide a continuous supply of fresh water for household and agricultural use, has altered naturally occurring flow patterns through the Everglades and into Florida Bay. Quantification of dynamic flow conditions within the south Florida ecosystem is vital to assessing implications of the residence time of water, potentially nutrient-enriched (with nitrates or phosphates) or contaminant-laden (with metals or pesticides), that can alter plant life and affect biological communities.

Improved numerical techniques are needed not only to more accurately evaluate discrete forces governing flow in the canals and wetlands but also to analyze their complex interaction in order to facilitate coupled representation of transport processes. Flow and transport processes are integrally linked meaning that precise quantification of the fluid dynamics is required to accurately evaluate the transport of waterborne constituents.