Researcher Spotlight

Kate Halstead, Newcastle University 

Kate is working to broaden our understanding of which factors contribute to damage during extreme wind storms.

Storm Arwen brought strong northerly winds across the UK between 26th -27th November 2021 and caused extensive damage to generations of Oak across Northern England and Scotland. A GeoSLAM ZEB Horizon laser scanner was used to take 3D scans of storm damaged Oak. Structural parameters such as tree height, branching order, DBH, crown area and crown volume were extracted from individual tree scans. Analysis of tree structure and extracted parameters help to identify the health of the tree post-storm and the extent to which local windspeed and direction were responsible for the damage. An understanding of which factors contribute to damage during extreme wind storms will provide stakeholders with suggestions on how to best protect native Oak in the future.

Twitter: @kateehalstead