Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN)
In the early 2000s, USGS developed the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) to provide water-level data for scientists, decision-makers, and managers to help monitor and assess Everglades restoration. EDEN is a real-time integrated network of 275 water-level gages, water-surface models, and applications that provides 400 x 400 meter gridded daily water-level data across the freshwater part of the Greater Everglades landscape. Combined with a digital elevation model, EDEN’s continuous water-level surfaces are used to calculate water depth, recession rates, hydroperiod, and a count of dry/wet days, among other derived hydrologic data.
The primary purpose of EDEN is to provide consistent, documented, and readily available hydrologic and ground-elevation data for the Everglades. EDEN includes additional data sets and tools, including rainfall and evapotranspiration data, hindcast datasets, benchmark data, statistical analyses, and data visualization tools. Additional applications have been developed based on the needs of the research and management community:
- The Explore and View EDEN (EVE) application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/eve/) allows users to view and download water-level, rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration data at EDEN gages in graphical or tabular formats.
- The EDEN Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) Viewer application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/csss/) evaluates water depths and other important metrics in CSSS habitat on a historical and real-time basis.
- The Coastal Salinity Index (CSI) and Coastal EDEN application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/coastal/) provide access to real-time data along the coastal fringe of the southern Everglades. The CSI indicates potential drought conditions based on the statistics of salinity measured at coastal stations and can be viewed online along with other real-time environmental parameters and statistics.
- The Everglades Restoration Transition Plan (ERTP) water-level alert map and notification system (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/ertp/) allows stakeholders to monitor extreme water-level conditions at gages and tree islands in Everglades National Park (ENP) and Water Conservation Areas 3A and 3B.
- ETree is a web application and decision support tool that shows hydrologic indicators at hundreds of tree islands in the Greater Everglades. It uses tree island elevations and water levels from EDEN to estimate metrics such as hydroperiod, number of days since last dry, and maximum water depth. ETree was developed by USGS in collaboration with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. ETree can be accessed at: https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/etree.
- · The GrAdient-Related Discharge in an Everglades Network (GARDEN) application uses the gradients from water levels interpolated in EDEN to estimate flow vectors. GARDEN was developed in response to water managers’ and researchers’ need for information on quantities and distribution of water across the Greater Everglades. The effects of restoration efforts and other changes on ecosystems and management objectives can be evaluated with historic wetland flow information. The flow vectors are estimated from the water-level gradient between EDEN cells and a calibrated frictional resistance. The GARDEN web tool can be accessed at: GARDEN Viewer - Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) (usgs.gov)
The original version of EDEN was first developed in 2007 using radial-basis functions to interpolate a continuous water-level surface from discrete gage data. This method continued in 2014 with version 2, which involved an expansion of the EDEN domain to include an additional portion of southern Big Cypress National Preserve and northwestern ENP upstream of the marsh mangrove wetlands. Version 3 was developed in 2019 and included incorporation of below-ground water-level representation and a conversion to the R programming language to create more efficient and portable code.
To access these data or applications, please visit the EDEN website: https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/
In the early 2000s, USGS developed the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) to provide water-level data for scientists, decision-makers, and managers to help monitor and assess Everglades restoration. EDEN is a real-time integrated network of 275 water-level gages, water-surface models, and applications that provides 400 x 400 meter gridded daily water-level data across the freshwater part of the Greater Everglades landscape. Combined with a digital elevation model, EDEN’s continuous water-level surfaces are used to calculate water depth, recession rates, hydroperiod, and a count of dry/wet days, among other derived hydrologic data.
The primary purpose of EDEN is to provide consistent, documented, and readily available hydrologic and ground-elevation data for the Everglades. EDEN includes additional data sets and tools, including rainfall and evapotranspiration data, hindcast datasets, benchmark data, statistical analyses, and data visualization tools. Additional applications have been developed based on the needs of the research and management community:
- The Explore and View EDEN (EVE) application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/eve/) allows users to view and download water-level, rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration data at EDEN gages in graphical or tabular formats.
- The EDEN Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (CSSS) Viewer application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/csss/) evaluates water depths and other important metrics in CSSS habitat on a historical and real-time basis.
- The Coastal Salinity Index (CSI) and Coastal EDEN application (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/coastal/) provide access to real-time data along the coastal fringe of the southern Everglades. The CSI indicates potential drought conditions based on the statistics of salinity measured at coastal stations and can be viewed online along with other real-time environmental parameters and statistics.
- The Everglades Restoration Transition Plan (ERTP) water-level alert map and notification system (https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/ertp/) allows stakeholders to monitor extreme water-level conditions at gages and tree islands in Everglades National Park (ENP) and Water Conservation Areas 3A and 3B.
- ETree is a web application and decision support tool that shows hydrologic indicators at hundreds of tree islands in the Greater Everglades. It uses tree island elevations and water levels from EDEN to estimate metrics such as hydroperiod, number of days since last dry, and maximum water depth. ETree was developed by USGS in collaboration with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. ETree can be accessed at: https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/etree.
- · The GrAdient-Related Discharge in an Everglades Network (GARDEN) application uses the gradients from water levels interpolated in EDEN to estimate flow vectors. GARDEN was developed in response to water managers’ and researchers’ need for information on quantities and distribution of water across the Greater Everglades. The effects of restoration efforts and other changes on ecosystems and management objectives can be evaluated with historic wetland flow information. The flow vectors are estimated from the water-level gradient between EDEN cells and a calibrated frictional resistance. The GARDEN web tool can be accessed at: GARDEN Viewer - Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) (usgs.gov)
The original version of EDEN was first developed in 2007 using radial-basis functions to interpolate a continuous water-level surface from discrete gage data. This method continued in 2014 with version 2, which involved an expansion of the EDEN domain to include an additional portion of southern Big Cypress National Preserve and northwestern ENP upstream of the marsh mangrove wetlands. Version 3 was developed in 2019 and included incorporation of below-ground water-level representation and a conversion to the R programming language to create more efficient and portable code.
To access these data or applications, please visit the EDEN website: https://sofia.usgs.gov/eden/