• Address:
  705 Spear Street
  South Burlington, Vermont 05403
  United States of America
  
  Phone: (802) 391-4135
  Email: femc@uvm.edu
  Website: www.uvm.edu/femc

Using methods like those used to make snow at ski areas, researchers successfully created ice glaze on tree branches (remarkably similar to conditions during the Northeast’s 1998 Ice Storm) over a large northern hardwood forest area. This novel experimental tool will allow scientists to study controlled icing events of different intensity and frequency in different forest types. Researchers also held a workshop with ecosystem scientists, climatologists, physical scientists, computer modelers, social scientists, and industry experts to define the state-of- knowledge on ice storms and examine the nature and extent of these storms in the Northeast. In addition, they developed machine-learning algorithms which allow computer models to identify unique ice storm climatology in past weather systems to better predict ice storms in the future.

• Label: canopy_status

• Description: Leaf presence

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: Openness_

• Description: Percent of canopy open

• Storage Type: decimal

• Measurment Type: ratio
• Precision: 0.01
• Unit: percent
• Number Type: real
• Bounds:
• Minimum: 0
• Maximum: 100

• Label: Plot

• Description: Plot Number

• Storage Type: int

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Label: timing

• Description: Time of observation

• Storage Type: text

• Measurment Type: nominal

• Canopy Openness Measurement
  • Method Description: Canopy openness was estimated with digital hemispherical photography in both treatment and control plots. All images were taken vertically from beneath the forest canopy just before sunrise to ensure adequately uniform sky conditions.

• Camera
• Sampling Description: A high-resolution camera equipped with a 180° fisheye lens was mounted on a self-leveling monopod 1 m above the ground.