High-resolution digital canopy height models, terrain models, ortho-mosaic photos, and canopy tree crown shapes derived from UAV-borne LiDAR at 22 tree census plots across Japanese natural forests

Recent developments in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology have enhanced the ability to capture precise three-dimensional forest information at a lower cost. This article reports four types of high-resolution digital datasets derived from UAV-LiDAR measurements and associated fieldwork. The dataset includes 5 cm resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and Canopy Height Models (CHMs), ortho-mosaic photos with sub-2.7 cm resolution, and 4328 tree crown polygons with information on 151 species, stem girth at breast height, and canopy height. Data were collected from 22 approximately 1-ha long-term monitoring plots across Japan, spanning major climate zones from subtropical to subarctic. These plots encompass evergreen conifer, broadleaf and conifer mixed, deciduous broadleaf, and evergreen broadleaf forests. UAV surveys were conducted from May 2022 to October 2023. Based on these data, we also report basic profiles of these natural forests: a median slope of 22.2° (ranging from 2.5° to 35.0° across sites), median canopy height of 19.2 m (10.5–25.2 m), median maximum canopy height of 29.4 m (17.6–39.8 m), median gap ratios of 1.7% (0–10.7%) and 7.7% (0–28.9%) depending on gap definitions, and median crown area of 42.9 m² (10.7–80.2 m²) for canopy trees. This dataset is the first publicly available collection of forest structure and individual tree crown information for Japanese natural forests. We hope this dataset will be useful for a wide range of studies and analyses, from site-specific case studies to global-scale meta-analyses. The metadata is available in MetaCat in JaLTER at https://jalter.diasjp.net/data/ERDP-2025-04.