SOUTHEAST FLORIDA SHELF


The Southeast Florida Shelf model was developed with support from the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program to provide information of the flows and mass transport in the shelf offshore the Florida Keys on the Atlantic side.  In a study examining the natural and anthropogenic stressors and the resulting system response the scope was limited to the coastal domain from Miami to Long Key including south Biscayne Bay.

  Areas of focus included larval transport, linkage to bays and their terrestrial  input, water quality, and coral health.  The model presently simulates  Biscayne Bay and the shelf from Miami to Long Key.  Several year-long  simulations using realistic forcing obtained from observations have been made. Comparisons of computed and observed along shelf flows are quite encouraging.

velcomp  
The above figure shows a comparison of modeled (dot) and observed (solid) subtidal alongshore velocities at two locations in the shelf off Key Largo.  The location of the two stations are shown as HC and MB in the velocity field figure (see link below). Throughout the record lengths (72 and 200 days), the correlation is high (r>0.75).  Fluctuations in velocity are well simulated at both stations.  The difference in magnitudes at Hawk Channel is not fully understood, but it may be due to the location of the current meter 1m above the bottom.

Model Velocity Field

Model Salinity Field

Particle Trajectories