Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Wind fields in heterogeneous conifer canopies: parameterisation of momentum absorption using high-resolution 3D vegetation scans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Applications of flow models to tall plant canopies are limited, amongst other factors, by the lack of detailed information on vegetation structure. A method is presented to record 3D vegetation structure and make this information applicable to the derivation of turbulence parameters suitable for flow models. The relationship between wind speed, drag coefficient (C D ) and plant area density (PAD) was experimentally investigated in a mixed conifer forest in the lower part of the Eastern Ore Mountains. Essential information was gathered by collecting multi-level high-frequency wind velocity measurements and a dense 3D representation of the forest was obtained from terrestrial laser scanner data. Wind speed dependence or streamlining was observed for most of the wind directions. Edge effects, i.e. the influence of the here not regarded pressure gradient and the advective terms of the momentum equation, are assumed to cause this heterogeneity. Contrary to the hypothetic shelter effect, which would reduce the drag on sheltered plant parts, the calculated profiles of drag coefficients revealed an increasing C D with PAD (i.e. a dependence on canopy and plant structure).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amiro BD (1990) Drag coefficients and turbulence spectra within three boreal forest canopies. Bound-Layer Meteorol 52:227–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arya SP (2001) Introduction to micrometeorology. Academic Press, London

  • Aschoff T, Spiecker H (2004) Algorithms for the automatic detection of trees in laser scanner data. In: Thies M, Koch B, Spiecker H, Weinacker H (eds) International society of photogrammetry and remote sensing, Freiburg, pp 66–70

  • Aschoff T, Holderied M, Spiecker H (2006) Forstliche Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung von Jagdlebensräumen von Fledermäusen. In: Luhmann T, Müller C (eds) Photogrammetrie—laserscanning—optische 3D-Messtechnik. Beiträge Oldenburger 3D-Tage 2006. Verlag Herbert Eichmann, Heidelberg, pp 280–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Aubinet M, Heinesch B, Bernhofer C, Canepa E, Lindroth A, Montagnani L, Rebmann C, Sedlak P, van Gorsel E (2010) Direct advection measurements do not help to solve the night-time CO2 closure problem: evidence from three different forests. Agric For Meteorol 150:655–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayotte KW, Finnigan JJ, Raupach MR (1999) A second-order closure for neutrally stratified vegetative canopy flows. Bound-Layer Meteorol 90:189–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bienert A, Queck R, Schmidt A, Bernhofer C, Maas H-G (2010) Voxel space analysis of terrestrial laser scans in forests for wind field modelling. IAPRS XXXVIII(5):92–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunet Y, Finnigan JJ, Raupach MR (1994) A wind tunnel study of air flow in waving wheat: single-point velocity statistics. Bound-Layer Meteorol 70:95–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cava D, Katul GG (2008) Spectral short-circuiting and wake production within the canopy trunk space of an alpine hardwood forest. Bound-Layer Meteorol 126:415–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cescatti A, Marcolla B (2004) Drag coefficient and turbulence intensity in conifer canopies. Agric For Meteorol 121:197–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppin PA, Raupach MR, Legg BJ (1986) Experiments on scalar dispersion within a model plant canopy part II: an elevated plane source. Bound-Layer Meteorol 35:167–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Langre E (2008) Effects of wind on plants. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 40:141–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont S, Bonnefond J-M, Irvine MR, Lamaud E, Brunet Y (2011) Long-distance edge effects in a pine forest with a deep and sparse trunk space: in situ and numerical experiments. Agric For Meteorol 151:328–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feigenwinter C, Bernhofer C, Vogt R (2004) The influence of advection on the short term CO2-budget in and above a forest canopy. Bound-Layer Meteorol 113:201–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnigan JJ (2000) Turbulence in plant canopies. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 32:519–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank C, Ruck B (2008) Numerical study of the airflow over forest clearings. Forestry 81:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorte B, Pfeifer N (2004) Structuring laser-scanned trees using 3D mathematical morphology. In Istanbul, Turkey, pp 929–933

    Google Scholar 

  • Groß G (1993) Numerical simulation of canopy flows. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grünwald T, Bernhofer C (2007) A decade of carbon, water and energy flux measurements of an old spruce forest at the Anchor Station Tharandt. Tellus B 59:387–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halldin S, Lindroth A (1986) Pine forest microclimate simulation using different diffusivities. Bound-Layer Meteorol 35:103–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasager CB, Jensen NO (1999) Surface-flux aggregation in heterogeneous terrain. Q J R Meteorol Soc 125:2075–2102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henning JG, Radtke PJ (2006) Detailed stem measurements of standing trees from ground-based scanning lidar. For Sci 52:67–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaimal JC, Finnigan JJ (1994) Atmospheric boundary layer flows: their structure and measurement. Oxford University Press, Oxford

  • Kerzenmacher T, Gardiner B (1998) A mathematical model to describe the dynamic response of a spruce tree to the wind. Trees 12:385–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koizumi A, Motoyama J-i, Sawata K, Sasaki Y, Hirai T (2010) Evaluation of drag coefficients of poplar-tree crowns by a field test method. J Wood Sci 56:189–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus K, Pfeifer N (2001) Advanced DTM generation from LIDAR data. IAPRS 34:23–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Landsberg JJ, Thom AS (1971) Aerodynamic properties of a plant of complex structure. Q J R Meteorol Soc 97:565–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefsky M, McHale M (2008) Volume estimates of trees with complex architecture from terrestrial laser scanning. J Appl Remote Sens 2(1):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li ZJ, Miller DR, Lin JD (1985) A first-order closure scheme to describe counter-gradient momentum transport in plant canopies. Bound-Layer Meteorol 33:77–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maas H-G, Bienert A, Scheller S, Keane E (2008) Automatic forest inventory parameter determination from terrestrial laser scanner data. Int J Remote Sens 29:1579–1593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahrt L, Vickers D, Sun J, Jensen NO, Allen H, Pardyjak E, Fernando H (2001) Determination of the surface drag coefficient. Bound-Layer Meteorol 99:249–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcolla B, Pitacco A, Cescatti A (2003) Canopy architecture and turbulence structure in a coniferous forest. Bound-Layer Meteorol 108:39–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massman WJ (1987) A comparative study of some mathematical models of the mean wind structure and aerodynamic drag of plant canopies. Bound-Layer Meteorol 40:179–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massman WJ (1997) An analytical one-dimensional model of momentum transfer by vegetation of arbitrary structure. Bound-Layer Meteorol 83:407–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monteith JL, Unsworth MH (2008) Principles of environmental physics. Academic Press, London

  • Pfeifer N, Winterhalder D (2004) Modelling of tree cross sections from terrestrial laser scanning data with free-form curves. IAPRS XXXVI—8/W2:76–81

  • Pinard JDJ-P, Wilson JD (2001) First- and second-order closure models for wind in a plant canopy. J Appl Meteorol 40:1762–1768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queck R, Bernhofer C (2010) Constructing wind profiles in forests from limited measurements of wind and vegetation structure. Agric For Meteorol 150:724–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach MR, Shaw RH (1982) Averaging procedures for flow within vegetation canopies. Bound-Layer Meteorol 22:79–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raupach MR, Thom AS (1981) Turbulence in and above plant canopies. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 13:97–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw RH, Schumann U (1992) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow above and within a forest. Bound-Layer Meteorol 61:47–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sogachev A, Panferov O (2006) Modification of two-equation models to account for plant drag. Bound-Layer Meteorol 121:229–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart JB, Thom AS (1973) Energy budgets in pine forest. Q J R Meteorol Soc 99:154–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thom AS (1971) Momentum absorption by vegetation. Q J R Meteorol Soc 97:414–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vosselman G, Maas H-G (2010) Airborne and terrestrial laser scanning. Whittles Publishing, Dunbeath, Scotland, UK

  • Wilson NR, Shaw RH (1977) A higher order closure model for canopy flow. J Appl Meteorol 16:1197–1205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood CJ (1995) Understanding wind forces on trees. In: Coutts MP, Grace J (eds) Wind and trees. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 133–164

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Raupach MR, Shaw RH, Paw U KT, Morse A (2006) Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow across a forest edge. Part I: flow statistics. Bound-Layer Meteorol 120:377–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the ‘Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’ (DFG SPP 1276 MetStröm) within the project ‘Turbulent Exchange processes between Forested areas and the Atmosphere’ (Grant BE 1721). We thank Dr. Christian Feigenwinter and Dr. Roland Vogt (University of Basel) for their logistical and scientific support and the technical staff of the Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology of the TUD. The authors would also like to thank Faro Europe GmbH for providing the laser scanner.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, Technische Universität Dresden, Pienner Straße 23, 01737, Tharandt, Germany

    Ronald Queck, Stefan Harmansa, Valeri Goldberg & Christian Bernhofer

  2. Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 10, 01069, Dresden, Germany

    Anne Bienert & Hans-Gerd Maas

Authors
  1. Ronald Queck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne Bienert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hans-Gerd Maas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Stefan Harmansa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Valeri Goldberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christian Bernhofer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronald Queck.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Bauhus.

This article belongs to the special issue ‘Wind Effects on Trees’.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Queck, R., Bienert, A., Maas, HG. et al. Wind fields in heterogeneous conifer canopies: parameterisation of momentum absorption using high-resolution 3D vegetation scans. Eur J Forest Res 131, 165–176 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-011-0550-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-011-0550-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation