El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico Canopy Change Up Close (2017-2018)
- Written by:
- Alex Kekesi and
- Ellen T. Gray
- Scientific consulting by:
- Doug C. Morton
- Produced by:
- Matthew Radcliff
- View full credits
Sample composite that shows a split screen of 2017 and 2018 lidar data over El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. As the animation plays, one can see a distinct difference between the fullness of the 2017 forest canopy versus the much sparser 2018 canopy. This difference is most noticable around rivers and streams where the neighboring forest canopy was stripped away by Hurricane Maria exposing much more of the water banks.
The extensive damage to Puerto Rico's forests had far-reaching effects, Morton said. Fallen trees that no longer stabilize soil on slopes with their roots as well as downed branches can contribute to landslides and debris flows, increased erosion, and poor water quality in streams and rivers where sediments build up.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Data visualizers
- Alex Kekesi (GST) [Lead]
- Cindy Starr (GST)
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
Writer
- Ellen T. Gray (NASA/HQ) [Lead]
Scientist
- Doug C. Morton (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
Producer
- Matthew Radcliff (KBRwyle) [Lead]
Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Data provider
- Hyeungu Choi (GST)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
Airplane LiDAR (A.K.A. LiDAR 3D point cloud) (Collected with the G-LiHT sensor)
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.