This dataset is comprised of raw data from the NERC-funded, full waveform terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) deployed at sites on three continents, multiple countries and plot locations, which have been re-surveyed at different times.

Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve is a state park of California in the United States established to preserve 805 acres (326 ha) of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). The reserve is located in Sonoma County, just north of Guerneville. The reserve is in a temperate rainforest. The climate is mild and wet. The park receives an average of 55 inches (1.4 m) of rainfall per year, almost all between September and June. Abundant fog during the summer months helps to maintain the moist conditions required by the coast redwoods.

The project scanned all trees in the permanent sample plot (PSP) spanning a range of soil fertility and productivity gradients (24 x 1 ha PSPs in total). The aim of the weighing trees with lasers project is to test if current allometric relationships are invariant across continents or whether they differ significantly and require continental-level models; quantify the impact of assumptions of tree shape and wood density on tropical forest allometry; test hypotheses relating to pan-tropical differences in observed AGB (Above Ground Biomass) from satellite and field data. It also aims to apply new knowledge to assessing retrieval accuracy of forthcoming ESA BIOMASS and NASA GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar) missions and providing calibration datasets; In addition to testing the capability of low-cost instruments to augment TLS data, including: UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle) for mapping cover and canopy height; low-cost lidar instruments to assess biomass rapidly, at lower accuracy.