Aerial Videography Overflights of Forest Cover and Impact from Hurricane Sandy along the Atlantic Coast, USA Completed
High resolution imagery (aerial videography) was obtained of Hurricane Sandy to assess forest damage by documenting disturbed canopy and downed trees.
The Science Issue and Relevance: Hurricane Sandy caused significant damage to coastal communities and surrounding wetlands mostly tied to an associated storm surge of record extent and impact. Federal lands, national parks, and wildlife refuges were intersected within a dense urban landscape where the impact to estuaries, wetlands, and coastal forests is more diffuse and difficult to quantify spatially without the aid of aerial photographic and satellite imagery. Access points to these land units and natural resources adjoining roads showed wide-area tree mortality and downed forests of unknown extent and severity. While wind strength and damage from Hurricane Sandy was greatest at the center’s landfall in New Jersey, inundation occurred along the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine, eroding shoreline, splashing saltwater inland, and knocking down trees. High resolution imagery (aerial videography) was obtained to assess forest damage by documenting disturbed canopy and downed trees. DOI land managers require information on the extent of forest damage and its implications for management that may guide decisions about recovery, research and restoration.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: USGS has long used its seaplane asset with camera mount and portal to accomplish post-hurricane reconnaissance missions for the benefit of rapid assessment of damages to natural and cultural resources. A flight plan was implemented to conduct low altitude videography over select DOI land units along the East Coast from North Carolina to New Jersey to capture high-resolution imagery of tree falls and forest disturbance. The imagery scale of video frames was calibrated to delineate whole trees and forest gaps suitable for determining tree fall compass direction and forest cover. Collective video frame analyses were conducted to achieve an understanding of spatial impact at the landscape scale and causal relations of treefall by wind and surge. A USGS web portal hosts the raw image files for public access and use by other USGS scientists and agency partners where these referenced photos document Sandy impact and post-storm landscape condition for future studies of forest recovery and succession.
Future Steps: The project will produce an understanding of the interaction of storm surge tides on soil liquefaction and wind force and direction that can be applied in explicit landscape simulation models to improve predictive modeling of future ecosystem consequences under climate change and increasing hurricane frequency and intensity.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Hurricane Sandy Surge and Marsh Dieback in the New Jersey Coastal Zone
Assessing Treefall Patterns and Causal Relations of Wind and Surge from Hurricane Sandy
Dendrochronology of Coastal Forests to Evaluate Impacts of Wind and Surge from Hurricane Sandy
- Overview
High resolution imagery (aerial videography) was obtained of Hurricane Sandy to assess forest damage by documenting disturbed canopy and downed trees.
Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. View Media DetailsSeaplane asset with camera mount and portal to accomplish post-hurricane reconnaissance missions The Science Issue and Relevance: Hurricane Sandy caused significant damage to coastal communities and surrounding wetlands mostly tied to an associated storm surge of record extent and impact. Federal lands, national parks, and wildlife refuges were intersected within a dense urban landscape where the impact to estuaries, wetlands, and coastal forests is more diffuse and difficult to quantify spatially without the aid of aerial photographic and satellite imagery. Access points to these land units and natural resources adjoining roads showed wide-area tree mortality and downed forests of unknown extent and severity. While wind strength and damage from Hurricane Sandy was greatest at the center’s landfall in New Jersey, inundation occurred along the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine, eroding shoreline, splashing saltwater inland, and knocking down trees. High resolution imagery (aerial videography) was obtained to assess forest damage by documenting disturbed canopy and downed trees. DOI land managers require information on the extent of forest damage and its implications for management that may guide decisions about recovery, research and restoration.
Methodology for Addressing the Issue: USGS has long used its seaplane asset with camera mount and portal to accomplish post-hurricane reconnaissance missions for the benefit of rapid assessment of damages to natural and cultural resources. A flight plan was implemented to conduct low altitude videography over select DOI land units along the East Coast from North Carolina to New Jersey to capture high-resolution imagery of tree falls and forest disturbance. The imagery scale of video frames was calibrated to delineate whole trees and forest gaps suitable for determining tree fall compass direction and forest cover. Collective video frame analyses were conducted to achieve an understanding of spatial impact at the landscape scale and causal relations of treefall by wind and surge. A USGS web portal hosts the raw image files for public access and use by other USGS scientists and agency partners where these referenced photos document Sandy impact and post-storm landscape condition for future studies of forest recovery and succession.
Sources/Usage: Some content may have restrictions. View Media DetailsAerial reconnaissance imagery of Hurricane Sandy Future Steps: The project will produce an understanding of the interaction of storm surge tides on soil liquefaction and wind force and direction that can be applied in explicit landscape simulation models to improve predictive modeling of future ecosystem consequences under climate change and increasing hurricane frequency and intensity.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Hurricane Sandy Surge and Marsh Dieback in the New Jersey Coastal Zone
Detection of storm surge impacts on coastal marshes requires regional or broader mapping of surge flooding above and below the wetland canopy and estimation of abnormal change in wetland condition.Assessing Treefall Patterns and Causal Relations of Wind and Surge from Hurricane Sandy
As tropical storms and hurricanes move onshore and make landfall, wind and storm surge can be sufficiently high to damage built-infrastructure and natural systems, most notably coastal forests at the interface of land and sea.Dendrochronology of Coastal Forests to Evaluate Impacts of Wind and Surge from Hurricane Sandy
The science of dating growth rings and history of live and fossil wood samples is called dendrochronology. This technique is valuable for conducting climate reconstructions where meteorological data is lacking and for detecting past disturbance events such as tropical storms and hurricanes.