DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhzd
title: Satellite and LiDAR imagery for canopy height and NDVI estimation for mangroves in Puerto Rico

description: Mangroves are critically important ecosystems that are highly vulnerable
 to hurricanes. This study investigated the effect of Hurricane Maria on
 mangrove canopy heights at two sites in Puerto Rico and assessed their
 subsequent recovery using remote sensing techniques. The two sites were La
 Paguera in the southwest and the Northeast Ecological Corridor in the
 northeast of Puerto Rico. Remote sensing techniques, including Light
 Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and satellite imagery, were utilized to
 provide precise, large-scale assessments of canopy height changes and
 vegetation recovery over time. The findings reveal a significant reduction
 in canopy height immediately following the hurricane, with the Northeast
 Corridor experiencing more severe damage than La Paguera. Post-hurricane
 recovery, assessed through Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
 analysis, shows varying degrees of vegetation health improvement, with
 some areas exhibiting canopy heights or vegetation health metrics
 surpassing pre-hurricane conditions. Variation in recovery appeared to be
 related to pre-storm canopy height and ancillary human disturbances. This
 study illustrates the power of remote sensing techniques to characterize
 patterns and mechanisms of damage and recovery that underlie the
 resilience of mangrove ecosystems to extreme weather events.
description: # Satellite and LiDAR imagery for canopy height and NDVI estimation for
 mangroves in Puerto Rico This data was downloaded from NOAA Data Access
 Viewer
 [[https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/imagery/search/](https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/imagery/search/)] for satellite imagery and LiDAR datasets. The LiDAR data was cleaned, classified, and modeled in Blue Marble's Global Mapper [[https://www.bluemarblegeo.com/global-mapper/](https://www.bluemarblegeo.com/global-mapper/)]. It was then exported as a GIFF and projected into ArcPRo [[https://www.arcgis.com/index.html](https://www.arcgis.com/index.html)]. Satellite Imagery was downloaded from the same database and was projected using Arc Pro.[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhzd.](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2ngf1vhzd) ## Description of the data and file structure Satellite Imagery  Satellite Imagery is downloaded as TiFF files and is quite large. Due to its size, the dataset is broken into tiles on the NOAA Digital Access Viewer. You can download the tile description if needed. Only data for the specified areas of Northeast Corridor Reserve and La Parguera Reserve for the mangroves were downloaded. Satellite Imagery is used to estimate the NDVI of the mangrove ecosystem. Data for 2010- 2021 was downloaded to assess NDVI that spanned pre-hurricane Maria, during Hurricane Maria, and post-hurricane Maria to assess damage and recovery. The files are in a .tif format for accessibility to any software LiDAR Imagery LiDAR data point clouds are downloaded as.LAS files are pretty significant. Due to the size of the dataset, you will need to ensure that you have quite a bit of space on your computer. This data set was also broken into NOAA Digital Access Viewer tiles. Only data for the specified areas of Northeast Corridor Reserve and La Parguera Reserve for the mangroves were downloaded. LiDAR is used to assess the canopy heights of the mangrove ecosystem. Data for 2010- 2021 was downloaded to estimate the canopy height of mangroves that spanned pre-hurricane Maria, during Hurricane Maria, and post-hurricane Maria to assess canopy height damage and recovery. The files are in a .tif format. for accessibility to any software ## Code/Software Multiple software can be used. QGIS or ArcPro is acceptable and can be used for LiDAR and Satellite Data. Global Mapper isn't required but helps and implies cleaning and classifying LiDAR point clouds. R can also replicate the study if the other software is unavailable. ## Access information Data was derived from the following sources: * [https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/](https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/)