Epic rain in Everglades: a tragic battle for to choose which flora and fauna will live or die

The Everglades (or Pa-hay-okee) is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The Everglades experience a wide range of weather patterns, from frequent flooding in the wet season to drought in the dry season and is home to scores of interesting plants and animals, many of them found only in the Everglades. Epic rains june month quenched Florida’s drought, but sparked a tragic battle for survival in the Everglades with officials forced to choose which flora and fauna will live or die.

Physiographic regions of south Florida[4]

High water levels in the Everglades have stranded animals on levees and tree islands, triggering emergency measures by water managers to drain flooded areas.

Extended duration high water conditions also have detrimental long-term effects on the essential foraging and nesting habitats of federally-listed species such as wood storks and snail kites.

Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

Map of south Florida study area displaying Cape Sable seaside sparrow (CSSS) critical habitat subpopulations and survey sites.[3]

The quick solution, is to open the gates and let it go into the park, that option has so far been blocked to protect the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow and at the South Florida Water Management District was granted emergency permission to back pump clean water into Lake Okeechobee to alleviate overflow in the conservation areas.

The Everglades animals are in a crisis and that some will die, but that the sparrow is the only species that could be wiped out forever.

The flooded area, captured by the Sentinel-1A with a RADAR sensor (mission of CopernicusEU) appears dark in the SAR image.

Acquired by Sentinel 1A on 2017-07-24

Radar is specularly reflected off the water surface, resulting in low backscattered intensity. The images showed the Everglades area in July, June and May.

The May image shows that the black area is smaller than the black area of the July image and the June image

Acquired by Sentinel 1A on 2017-06-18

Acquired by Sentinel 1A on 2017-05-25

The presence or absence of water in wetlands significantly alters the signatures detected from these areas. The imaging radars is their ability to operate independent of cloud cover and solar illumination. These systems can collect imagery during periods of rain and cloud cover, and therefore can monitor wetlands throughout periods when significant levels of precipitation are affecting water levels and vegetation growth patterns.

CREDITS:

[1] https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/weather/recent-rains-causing-tragic-battle-for-survival-everglades/2uU6DMA9ZzVSfwnzJckxoL/

[2] http://weatherplus.blog.mypalmbeachpost.com/2017/06/23/just-in-emergency-lake-okeechobee-back-pumping-granted/

[3] Evaluating Water Management Scenarios To Support  Habitat Management for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (By James M. Beerens, Stephanie S. Romañach, and Mark McKelvy)  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304371803_Evaluating_water_management_scenarios_to_support_habitat_management_for_the_Cape_Sable_seaside_sparrow

[4] https://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/papers/pp1011/ecosystems.html

[5] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura_Bourgeau-Chavez/publication/265567893_Monitoring_South_Florida_wetlands_using_ERS-1_SAR_imagery/links/54f9a0b10cf210398e991567/Monitoring-South-Florida-wetlands-using-ERS-1-SAR-imagery.pdf

Written by giovanna palumbo