Notes: Crown Shadow Area Equations

Abstract

Silviculturists, forest micrometeorologists, and hydrologists have interest in shade cast by tree crowns because of its influence on soil surface temperatures and on air temperatures near the ground. We provide equations which describe the boundary of illumination on sunlit crowns and estimate the amount of shade cast by tree crowns when one assumes that crown shapes can be represented by paraboloids, cones, or ellipsoids. Forest Sci 30:284-290.