Blog: Laser imaging reveals how fire renews Sierra Nevada forests
Plane-mounted laser imaging has allowed scientists to map the size, shape, and density of trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, revealing how low- and moderate-intensity burns make forests more resilient to larger blazes. Historically, scientists could only map small plots of forest in great detail, which limited the scope of studies. But with high-resolution laser imaging, or “lidar,” scientists can gather more refined data on a broader swath of woodlands, offering greater insight into their response to fire, as scientists detailed in a recent article in Eos.