Peeping through the Leaves

Southern New England’s forests are beloved for the bright colors of their fall foliage, but they also hide much of the rich record of human influence on the historic landscape. Using lidar, which employs lasers to see beneath tree cover, Kate Johnson of the University of Connecticut has been able to peer into the past of the Northeast. “We have identified old stone walls, foundations, dams, mills, and abandoned roads and paths that are obscured in aerial and satellite imagery,” says Johnson. “Being able to see these features on the landscape is exciting because this type of data was never available before.”