Introduction Conversion Factors Model Input Model Development Results File Naming Data >Future Plans & Acknowledgements References Cited Figures and Tables PDF

Because we are interested in simulating water depths at the sub-400m resolution, future plans include the development of pseudo-topography using statistical examination of more than 54,000 HAED as a function of vegetation type. For some areas of the Everglades vegetation type has been noted at the location of each HAED measurement by the AHF operator. Results from preliminary analyses using approximately 3,500 elevation and vegetation points for WCA3 are provided in figure 13, a box-plot showing which land cover classes are separable by elevation (as provided by the AHF). Vegetation cover types mapped at approximately 30-meter spatial resolution can be derived using Landsat satellite data for the Greater Everglades region. In combination with modeled depth surfaces observed relationships between topography and these vegetation types may be used to synthesize higher-resolution elevation models. A primary challenge in this process will be the proper segmentation of land cover and HAED to derive meaningful local-area vegetation-elevation relationships.

Figure 13. Boxplot of Water Conservation Area 1 (WCA1) vegetation classes as interpreted by the AHF operator during collection ("VEG.FS" along the X-axis) verses elevation in meters ("ELEV.M" along the Y-axis). The total number of observations is 3,537. Generally the large number of points collected by the AHF allows for narrow 95 percent confidence intervals (shown as notches in the boxes) about the median elevation value for each vegetation class. These relationships may be exploited along with remote sensed vegetation cover maps to create higher-resolution, synthetic elevation information. [larger image]

Acknowledgements

Funding for HAED collection was provided by the USGS's Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science Program, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the National Park Service, and the South Florida Water Management District. Funding for EDEN DEM development was provided by the USGS's Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science Program and the Land Remote Sensing Program.