eds
Evaluation of downscaled climate data for South Florida
Faulty member: Mewcha A. Gebremedhin, Ph.D.
Funding: EPA-I-R4-SFL-2023-01; 2023 South Florida Program
1. Project overview
This project aims to collect, process, and analyze daily precipitation data, groundwater level observations and land use/land cover (LULC) classifications to examine their relationships in South Florida. The goal is to identify trends and patterns that can inform the design and implementation of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for enhancing groundwater recharge.
2. Project Objectives
- Classify LULC from Sentinel-2 imagery (2015–present) mainly into Urban, Transportation, Barren Land, Agriculture, Rangeland, Open Water, Upland Forest, Wetland.
- Conduct statistical analysis to explore the correlation of groundwater levels with precipitation, and management practices
- Analyze the impact of LULC changes on groundwater recharge
- Assess how water management practices (like NBS) influence groundwater levels
- Provide recommendations on integrating NBS into groundwater management practices
3. Data Acquisition
- Obtain daily precipitation and groundwater level data from reliable sources.
- Download Sentinel-2 satellite imagery since 2015 for LULC classification.
- Gather data on local water management practices
4. Data Processing
- Process and classify Sentinel-2 imagery to derive LULC maps using Google Earth Engine.
- Ensure temporal alignment of precipitation, groundwater level data.
- Clean and preprocess groundwater level and precipitation datasets, addressing missing values
- Align data with management practices for analysis
5. Statistical and Graphical Evaluation
- Perform correlation analysis between precipitation, LULC changes, and groundwater levels
- Explore how different LULC categories and management practices (e.g. wetland restoration) affect groundwater recharge
- Visualize results with scatter plots, time-series plots, and maps to show relationships and trends. Water levels and precipitation can be interpolated
6. Results and Discussion
- Summarize the statistical findings in tabular and graphical/map formats.
- Interpret how precipitation, LULC changes, and management practices affect groundwater levels in South Florida
- Discuss the potential role of NBS (e.g., wetland restoration, reforestation) in enhancing groundwater recharge in south Florida.
- Identify areas where NBS could have the greatest impact on groundwater enhancement
- Prepare a final report in the following the final report format