Analysis of EO-1 ALI data to determine local impacts of Hurricane Iris on broadleaf forests in Belize, Central America

Hurricane Iris, a Category Four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale with winds exceeding 200 kph, made landfall in southern Belize, Central America, on October 8, 2001. Extensive wind damage occurred, including toppled and defoliated trees, and major losses to the local banana industry. Among the regions impacted by the storm was the Monkey River area located approximately 130 km south of Belize City. Imagery acquired on December 4, 2001, from NASA´s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) was used to analyze impacts on land cover/land use with emphasis on broadleaf forests. Comparisons were made with pre-hurricane Landsat TM data, in which 14 land cover/land use classes, including 6 classes of forests and savannah, 5 classes of wetlands and coastal lands, and 3 classes of developed land were classified.