Maximum leaf area index or density

[lara-vdl]

Hi,
I have a question concerning the tree canopy generation and whether the maximum leaf area index or density is needed as an input.
In your preprint in Table 2, it is noted that the maximum leaf area index should be provided for the generation of the leaf area density profile. Here in the github description, it is noted that the maximum leaf area density is required. Also in the code, the variable is called tree_lad_max.
So which input should I provide?
Thanks for your help!

[dongqi-DQ]

Hi there,

It should be maximum leaf area density. One of our developers put the maximum leaf area index by mistake and I didn't notice this error when I put together the manuscript. This error was pointed out by the reviewers and therefore I corrected it to leaf area density in the latest versions.

Thanks

[lara-vdl]

Hi,

alright. That clears things up. A follow-up question: within the code is a note that the default value for the maximum leaf area density is 5. Is that for mainly deciduous trees or evergreen trees? Or do you by any chance have a reference for the value?

Thanks again

[dongqi-DQ]

Hi,

As far as I know, the default value is for pine trees. I'm not sure where exactly 5.0 is coming from. @peterhob, can you help with this?

Thanks

[peterhob]

Hello,

Apologies for the confusion. It should be Leaf Area Index (LAI). In the paper we cited the none-integral form (LAD) of the equation from (Lalic and Mihailovic, 2004.) while in the code we actually first used the integral form (equation 2 in Lalic and Mihailovic, 2004) and the LAI input value to calculate Lm (max LAD). The Lm (max LAD) is then used to calculate LAD at different heights. The middle point (5.0) of the LAI range used in their study (2-8) were set as default. Hope this clears the confusion.

Cheers,
Jiawei

[lara-vdl]

Hi,

That makes things a bit easier as I can get a dataset on LAI but not on LAD.

Many thanks for your help!

[dongqi-DQ]

It turns out that we had a miscommunication here. I will add some notes to our current version and will correct the corresponding sections in the manuscript later when we have the chance.