El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico Canopy Change from Afar (2017-2018)
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- Visualizations by:
- Alex Kekesi
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- Written by:
- Ellen T. Gray
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Doug C. Morton
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- Produced by:
- Matthew Radcliff
- View full credits
Sample Composite that split screens the lidar swath over the El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. During the split screen, 2017 data is on the upper left and 2018 data on the bottom right. As the camera moves northwest, the viewer can see patches of ground becoming visible in the 2018 data. This is due to the vast numbers of trees that were stripped or fell during Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria's lashing rain and winds also transformed Puerto Rico's lush tropical rainforest landscape. Research scientist Doug Morton of Goddard was part of the team of NASA researchers who had surveyed Puerto Rico's forests six months before the storm. The team used Goddard’s Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal (G-LiHT) Airborne Imager, a system designed to study the structure and species composition of forests. Shooting 600,000 laser pulses per second, G-LiHT produces a 3D view of the forest structure in high resolution, showing individual trees in high detail from the ground to treetop. In April 2018 (post-Maria) the team went back and surveyed the same tracks as in 2017 (before Maria).
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
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Data visualizers
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
- Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
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Writer
- Ellen T. Gray (NASA/HQ) [Lead]
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Scientist
- Doug C. Morton (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Producer
- Matthew Radcliff (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
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Data provider
- Hyeungu Choi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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Airplane LiDAR (LiDAR 3D point cloud)
ID: 965
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.
Related Pages
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ID: 4621 Visualization
El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico Canopy Change Nadir View (2017-2018)
Read moreAnimation that does of a low fly over of El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. The entire animation is split screen showing the 2017 data on top and 2018 on bottom. Notice the dense lush forest canopy in 2017 and how it covers and shades much of the forest floor. However, in 2018, after Maria devastated the forest in late 2017, the tree canopy has been greatly thinned exposing much more of the forest floor. || evzoom_comp4.0300_print.jpg (1024x576) [316.8 KB] || evzoom_comp4.0300_searchweb.png (320x180) [121.7 KB] || evzoom_comp4.0300_thm.png (80x40) [7.3 KB] || evzoom_comp4_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [199.0 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/Sample_Composite/ (1920x1080) [256.0 KB] || evzoom_comp4_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [15.4 MB] ||
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ID: 4576 Visualization
El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico Canopy Change Up Close (2017-2018)
Read moreSample 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. || el_verde_zoom_comp2.2800_print.jpg (1024x576) [305.6 KB] || el_verde_zoom_comp2_1080p30_2.mp4 (1920x1080) [338.7 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/Sample_Composite/ (1920x1080) [256.0 KB] || el_verde_zoom_comp2_1080p30_2.webm (1920x1080) [21.8 MB] ||
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ID: 4742 Visualization
SVS Demo Reel
Read moreThis is the SVS Demo Reel presented at SIGGRAPH 2019 in Los Angeles, CA. || svs_siggraphreel2019_print.jpg (1920x1080) [319.8 KB] || svs_siggraphreel2019_print_searchweb.png (320x180) [36.2 KB] || svs_siggraphreel2019_print_thm.png (80x40) [3.3 KB] || svs_siggraphreel2019.mp4 (1920x1080) [298.4 MB] || svs_siggraphreel2019.webm (1920x1080) [18.6 MB] || svs_siggraphreel2019.en_US.srt [38 bytes] || svs_siggraphreel2019.en_US.vtt [51 bytes] ||
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