Spatial Aerodynamic Roughness of Forested Landscapes from Airborne LiDAR

This repository contains the Python notebooks and supporting scripts used for the conference paper:

Ahmed, M. H., Lindenbergh, R., Menenti, M., & Timmermans, J. (2026). Spatial Aerodynamic Roughness of Forested Landscapes from Airborne LiDAR. ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XI-3-2026, 695–704. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-695-2026

Overview

The notebooks in this repository document the workflow used to derive spatial aerodynamic roughness parameters over forested landscapes from airborne LiDAR data. The analysis focuses on estimating vegetation structural properties and translating them into aerodynamic parameters relevant for land–atmosphere exchange and nitrogen deposition modelling.

Contents

The repository includes notebooks for:

• preprocessing airborne LiDAR point cloud data [AHN-rough.ipynp];
• deriving canopy height and structural metrics [AHN-rough.ipynp];
• estimating aerodynamic roughness length from airborne LiDAR data [AHN-rough.ipynp];
• estimating aerodynamic roughness length and displacement height from Eddy Covariance tower data [ICOS-rough.ipynp];
• estimating tower footprint climatology (Following Kljun et al., 2015) [ICOS-rough.ipynp];
• comparing LiDAR-derived estimates with Eddy Covariance tower estimates [ICOS-rough.ipynp].

Data

The notebooks are designed to work with airborne LiDAR data more specifically AHN data, AHN (Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland) is a national open-source dataset providing highly accurate elevation data for the entire Netherlands. Due to data size and licensing restrictions, raw input datasets may not be included in this repository. Where possible, the notebooks indicate the expected input structure.

Citation

If you use or adapt this code, please cite the conference paper:

@Article{isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-695-2026,
  AUTHOR = {Ahmed, M. H. and Lindenbergh, R. and Menenti, M. and Timmermans, J.},
  TITLE = {Spatial Aerodynamic Roughness of Forested Landscapes from Airborne LiDAR},
  JOURNAL = {ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences},
  VOLUME = {XI-3-2026},
  YEAR = {2026},
  PAGES = {695--704},
  URL = {https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XI-3-2026/695/2026/},
  DOI = {10.5194/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-695-2026}
}

License

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007