Airplane Laser technology can measure threat-level related to forest changes

Experts from the US Forest Service and the Carnegie Institution have
developed a new laser system that allows them to use a plan for
monitoring changes that might have occurred in tropical rain forests.
The changes refer to the influence of outside intrusive plant species,
as well as to the effect the spread or reduction of tree surfaces has
on the landscape around the forests. The new system also allows
researchers to assess the threat level for a certain forest, or
portion of forest, as well as to determine time lines and create
estimates as to when a certain ecosystem might heal itself, or
disappear altogether.

In a new study published in the January issue of
the journal Ecosystems, Carnegie Institution Department of Global
Ecology expert Gregory Asner says that “Our results clearly show the
interactive role that climate and invasive species play on carbon
stocks in tropical forests, and this may prove useful in projecting
future changes in carbon sequestration in Hawaii and beyond. These
findings showed airborne data correlated with data derived from study
plots on the ground.” They also demonstrated what might be the most
important environmental factors affecting forest biomass and carbon
sequestration, US Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
ecologist Flint Hughes, who is also one of the authors of the
Ecosystems paper, adds. The new laser system can measure elevation on
a designated area with a precision of +/- 6 inches, which means that
it creates a faithful image of the region being photographed.

It can allows scientists operating it to create superimposed charts that
could show them the evolution of the area over a period of time. Based
on monthly or quarterly observations, the state of some of the world’s
oldest and most precious forests could be monitored thoroughly, and
any change recorded. The airplane measurements are then
cross-referenced with data recorded in the forests themselves, such as
tree diameter, canopy height and richness, and wood density. Foreign
and invasive plants can thus be easily identified, and even eliminated
if the situation demands it. Biomass levels that intruders produce
affect the trees’ ability to retain carbon dioxide, the main
greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. So, researchers are
trying to identify any phenomenon that may affect the way carbon is
naturally stored before it becomes a part of the ecosystem, and thus
impossible to stop. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Tropical-Forests-Measured-With-Lasers-102845.shtml

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