Crown Traits of Broadleaf Deciduous Trees at NEON Forest Sites (2018-2022)

Using NEON Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) measurements collected in 2018-2022 from nine broadleaf deciduous NEON forest sites, we quantified a broad suite of structural metrics and spectral reflectance indices for 305 tree crowns that were delineated in the field by NEON and met our data quality criteria. For each tree crown, we used 1-m^3 voxelated AOP LiDAR data to compute structural metrics, including plant area index (PAI), leaf area index (LAI), top rugosity, maximum canopy height (MAXCH), mean outer canopy height (MOCH), rumple, accumulative plant area density and accumulative LiDAR intensity at multiple tree heights. We used AOP imaging spectrometer to compute several spectral indices, including NDVI, NIRv, EVI, NDWI and chlorophyll index of red edge/green. The data are suitable for ecophysiological studies at tree crown and/or species level. The broad spatial extent allows for the exploration of variability in structure and function of common north American tree species across wide environmental gradients.