Alvaro Ivan Lau Sarmiento

Alvaro Ivan Lau Sarmiento is a Lecturer at the Geosciences school of Utrecht University, affiliated with the Human Geography and Spatial Planning department. He actively contributes to the Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing at Wageningen University & Research through collaborative projects.

• Education: Master in Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing from Wageningen University
• Expertise: Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), 3D Forest Modeling, Tropical Forest Monitoring

His research focuses on Remote Sensing applications in Forest Ecology, particularly using Terrestrial LiDAR to analyze Tree Biomass Estimation and Crown Shyness phenomena. He pioneered 3D surface complementarity metrics adapted from molecular biology to quantify crown interactions in tropical forests.

Recent work trends show strong emphasis on 3D Point Clouds for ecological analysis and Architecture-Based Modeling of tropical trees. His studies bridge Remote Sensing with Forest Dynamics through innovative computational methods.

Alvaro coordinates and teaches courses like GRS10306 while supervising MSc Theses and Internships. He actively collaborates with Wageningen University researchers, startups, and companies in 3D modeling domains.

As contact person for Terrestrial Laser Scanning Research at Wageningen University & Research, he has collected field data in tropical regions and Europe, focusing on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring in forests through his 3DForMod project.