Sea Level Variation as an Indicator of Florida Current Volume Transport: Comparisons with Direct Measurements

Sea level measurements from tide gauges at Miami, Florida, and Cat Cay, Bahamas, and bottom pressure measurements from a water depth of 50 meters off Jupiter, Florida, and a water depth of 10 meters off Memory Rock, Bahamas, were correlated with 81 concurrent direct volume transport observations in the Straits of Florida. Daily-averaged sea level from either gauge on the Bahamian side of the Straits was poorly correlated with transport. Bottom pressure off Jupiter had a linear coefficient of determination of r 2 = 0.93, and Miami sea level, when adjusted for weather effects, had r 2 = 0.74; the standard errors of estimating transports were ± 1.2 × 10 6 and ± 1.9 × 10 6 cubic meters per second, respectively. A linear multivariate regression, which combined bottom pressure, weather, and the submarine cable observations between Jupiter and the Bahamas, had r 2 = 0.94 with a standard error of estimating transport of ± 1.1 × 10 6 cubic meters per second. These results suggest that a combination of easily obtained observations is sufficient to adequately monitor the daily volume transport fluctuations of the Florida Current.