Utilizing 360° photography to assess forest recovery seven years after hurricane impact

<p>Many forestry studies rely on obtaining measurements on forest vertical structure, canopy closure, ground cover, and other data types through the use of manual labor, which is time-consuming, expensive, labor-intensive, and may not be feasible following a major hurricane.</p> <p>We established a total of 75 survey points across the trails of Las Casas de la Selva, a sustainable forestry plantation located in Patillas, Puerto Rico. The property took a direct hit from Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 241 kph, on September 20, 2017. We took 360° photos at each survey point seven years later, which were then analyzed within a virtual reality environment to quantify forest vertical structure and transformed them into two batches of hemispherical photos, with one set focused on the canopy and the other on the ground. Collecting data in this way opens up the possibility for monitoring forest/vegetation health over time, as sites at trails are easy to access, and only 360° photos are needed.</p> <p>We computed the Vertical Habitat Diversity Index (VHDI) from the amount of foliage in 4 strata: herbaceous, shrub, understory, and canopy.</p>