As a result, there has been a decrease in the water quality of the Bay which has prompted seagrass die offs and reduced fish populations. Restoration of Florida Bay will depend upon numerical circulation and sediment transport models to establish water quality targets and assess progress toward obtaining these targets. The only complete topography data set of the Bay is 100 years old. Consequently, an accurate and modern sea-floor or bathymetry map of the Bay is critical for numerical modeling research. A modern bathymetry data set will also permit a comparison to historical data in order to help assess sedimentation rates within the Bay.
Previous research suggests that the mudbanks are dynamic features which migrate, accrete and erode.
Less is known about the sedimentation rates in the basins. The objective of this research is to collect new bathymetry for all of Florida Bay, digitize the historical shoreline and bathymetric data, compare previous data to modern data, and produce maps and digital grids of historical and modern bathymetry. This information will be provided to other researchers involved in the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Program so they can better address the water quality issues of Florida Bay. The strategy is to systematically map the bathymetry in Florida Bay to aid in the assessment of Bay sedimentation rates and to provide an accurate sea-floor surface for numerical models. Digital sea-floor grids are being produced from the trackline data.