Researchers who compared before and after LiDAR measurements of Puerto Rico’s tropical forests found that Hurricane Maria damaged or uprooted 40-60% of the tallest trees. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Lidar, Hyperspectral, and Thermal (G-LiHT) Airborne Imager generates 600,000 laser pulses per second, collecting information about tree structure and composition.  Six-months prior to Hurricane Maria, NASA researchers had collected information about the health of Puerto Rico’s forests.  A return in April of 2018 after the hurricane  remeasured the same areas.  The results from both G-LiHT data collection efforts is a 3D view of the forest structure in high resolution.
Doug Morton of Goddard compared the destruction that occurred after Hurricane Maria:Â “Maria gave the island’s forests a haircut. The island lost so many large trees that the overall height of forests was shortened by one-third. We basically saw 60 years’ worth of what we would otherwise consider natural treefall disturbances happen in one day.”
The loss of trees to Hurricane Maria will have lasting effects. Â Trees help to stabilize the soils and loose tree debris contributes to landslides and soil erosion. Â Not all trees were affected at the same rate. Researchers found that palms along with shrubs and shorter trees in the understory survived at a higher rate.
This comparative video shows 2017 and 2018Â G-LiHT measurements of the tree canopy in Puerto Rico. Â The 2018 canopy is noticeably thinner with larger areas of exposed soil.
3D Map of Puerto Rico’s Forest: Before and After Hurricane Maria
More:
- El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico Canopy Change Nadir View (2017-2018)
- 3-D Views of Puerto Rico’s Forests After Hurricane Maria
