Tree Allometrics

Equations / Height

Pantropical Weibull height–diameter model

HeightTropical forest trees (permanent plots)PantropicalnaturalRead from the original paper
Many species, no single photo
Equation

As printed (Eq. 5, p. 3387)

H = a(1 − exp(−bD^c))

In this library's units, ready to compute (m)

Height = 50.874 * (1 - exp(-0.042 * D^0.784))
D
Diameter at breast height (1.3 m), cm

Weibull height–diameter model; RSE 5.479 m (on the height scale, not log scale, so not stored in fit.rse). Fitted on concurrent H and D measurements in permanent plots, trees ≥ 10 cm D; the paper gives no maximum D for this fit. Table 3 footnote: models adapted from the pantropical H:D database of Feldpausch et al. (2011).

Source
Coefficients for Weibull-H region-, continent-specific and pantropical models (H = a(1−exp(−bD^c))) to estimate tree height (H, m) from diameter (D, cm) ≥ 10 cm in pantropical forests
Units · Table 3 caption, p. 3393
Pantropical 50.874 0.0420 0.784 5.479 266 169 42656
Trees measured · Table 3 (columns a, b, c, RSE, AIC, n), p. 3393
Trees measured
42,656
DBH range
from 10 cm
Method
nonlinear Weibull H:D fit
Where
Permanent plots in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America
Last checked
2026-11-01
Calculate
23.1
Height (m)
Fitted DBH range05101520253035102030405060DBH (cm)Height (m)Height

Shaded: the DBH range the model was fitted on. Other inputs held at the values above.

Checks this equation passes

On every build, the library's form and the paper's own form (in its units) must both give these values within 1%.

InputsExpectedWe getFrom
D = 3023.123.1Computed from the printed form
computed with python3 from the published form
D = 8037.137.1Computed from the printed form
computed with python3 from the published form

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