I am currently working on a model to run the UWG simulation, and I am inserting the trees. I obtained the tree position and data from a source where the tree crowns are represented by circles, and sometimes the circles overlap with each other. I converted them to surfaces in Grasshopper but I wanted to make sure if should I take them separately as surfaces (supposing each one of them is 2m square) so I take 4 m squares or should I find their union as surfaces which will be less then 4 m square. Which will be the correct input?
The union of the tree canopy surfaces would definitely be more accurate and would ensure that you don’t double-count part of the tree canopy. With this said, the UWG has some known limitations in the way that it currently models vegetation in that there is no real moisture balance calculation happening. We may rectify this in the future and more information is here: