The Floccometer
A Long Term Research Site in the Ridge and Slough Everglades
Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA
The [nearly] original Everglades, as photographed by John King in March 1917
(near Tamiami Trail, present day Northeast Shark Slough)
The "Floccometer" is an autonomous, solar-powered, Internet-connected measurement platform with the purpose of increasing mechanistic understanding of what keeps the Everglades the Everglades. The platform supports instrumentation that quantifies hydrological, meteorological, and sediment transport processes over multi-year periods. These instruments capture the changing influences of the annual hydrological cycle and human water management. As a long term installation, the site also serves as a sentinel for capturing the effects of climate change on the Everglades.
The location in southern Water Conservation Area 3A (see also Everglades page) was chosen for its similarity to predrainage (pre-1880) conditions (below) and because of the unique experimental design provided by the opening and closing of the downstream S-12C and S-333 structures. The open water lily slough ("Floccometer Slough") is representative of hundreds of other sloughs within central and southern WCA 3A and is undisturbed by airboat traffic.