An Examination of ICESat-2 Repeat Tracks for Quantifying Hurricane-Driven Changes in Forest Structure.
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| Title: | An Examination of ICESat-2 Repeat Tracks for Quantifying Hurricane-Driven Changes in Forest Structure. |
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| Authors: | Gautam, Ajay1 (AUTHOR), Narine, Lana L.1 (AUTHOR) lln0005@auburn.edu |
| Source: | Remote Sensing. Jun2026, Vol. 18 Issue 12, p2023. 20p. |
| Subjects: | Forest canopies, Tree height, Vegetation monitoring, Tropical cyclones, Artificial satellites, Hurricane damage, Remote sensing |
| Geographic Terms: | Alabama |
| Abstract: | Highlights: ICESat-2 ATL08 canopy height metrics demonstrated strong agreement with corresponding airborne LiDAR height measurements with improved performance at 20 m sub-segment scale compared to 100 m segment scale. Hurricane-driven structural changes were detected from multi-temporal ICESat-2 observations, with the greatest canopy height reduction in tall canopy (20–30 m) and evidence of regeneration for shorter canopy classes (0–10 m). Repeat ICESat-2 ground tracks enable the monitoring of structural changes associated with disturbances such as hurricanes. Forests worldwide are impacted by tropical cyclones which alter their structure and ecological functions. In this study, we investigated repeat track data from ICESat-2's (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2's) land and vegetation height product (ATL08) to quantify structural changes in forests, with a focus on coastal forests in Alabama and Florida affected by Hurricane Sally (2020). We evaluated pre-hurricane ATL08 along-track canopy estimates at the ATL08 100 m segment scale and 20 m sub-segment scale and quantified structural canopy changes using exact pre- and post-repeated tracks. Results demonstrated strong agreement between ATL08's 98th percentile canopy height (RH98) and reference airborne LiDAR-derived RH98 at both spatial scales, with improved performance at the 20 m sub-segment scale (mean bias: −1.16 m; MAE: 2.28 m; RMSE: 3.44 m; r: 0.80). Samples over evergreen forests provided reduced bias (−2 m to −0.55 m), reduced RMSE (4.02 m to 2.96 m), and improved correlation (0.77 to 0.83) than woody wetlands for canopy height acquisition. Post-hurricane analyses revealed height reductions in tall canopy (20–30 m) of 1.51 m, while smaller trees (0–10 m) increased by 0.77 m, reflecting growth. Overall, findings highlight ICESat-2's ability to monitor canopy height changes and offer prospects for integrating ICESat-2 data for damage assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Engineering Source |
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| Abstract: | Highlights: ICESat-2 ATL08 canopy height metrics demonstrated strong agreement with corresponding airborne LiDAR height measurements with improved performance at 20 m sub-segment scale compared to 100 m segment scale. Hurricane-driven structural changes were detected from multi-temporal ICESat-2 observations, with the greatest canopy height reduction in tall canopy (20–30 m) and evidence of regeneration for shorter canopy classes (0–10 m). Repeat ICESat-2 ground tracks enable the monitoring of structural changes associated with disturbances such as hurricanes. Forests worldwide are impacted by tropical cyclones which alter their structure and ecological functions. In this study, we investigated repeat track data from ICESat-2's (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2's) land and vegetation height product (ATL08) to quantify structural changes in forests, with a focus on coastal forests in Alabama and Florida affected by Hurricane Sally (2020). We evaluated pre-hurricane ATL08 along-track canopy estimates at the ATL08 100 m segment scale and 20 m sub-segment scale and quantified structural canopy changes using exact pre- and post-repeated tracks. Results demonstrated strong agreement between ATL08's 98th percentile canopy height (RH98) and reference airborne LiDAR-derived RH98 at both spatial scales, with improved performance at the 20 m sub-segment scale (mean bias: −1.16 m; MAE: 2.28 m; RMSE: 3.44 m; r: 0.80). Samples over evergreen forests provided reduced bias (−2 m to −0.55 m), reduced RMSE (4.02 m to 2.96 m), and improved correlation (0.77 to 0.83) than woody wetlands for canopy height acquisition. Post-hurricane analyses revealed height reductions in tall canopy (20–30 m) of 1.51 m, while smaller trees (0–10 m) increased by 0.77 m, reflecting growth. Overall, findings highlight ICESat-2's ability to monitor canopy height changes and offer prospects for integrating ICESat-2 data for damage assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 20724292 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/rs18122023 |
