This thesis deals with the research question: which processes are relevant in controlling the exchange fluxes between the forest and the atmosphere and how can this control be quantified? Answering this question is relevant for research in the fields of air pollution, weather and climate and remote sensing. To answer this question a measurement program has been performed over and in a dense Douglas fir forest (Speulderbos), near the village of Garderen, the Netherlands. Variables were monitored related to, the state of the atmosphere, the state of soil water and the state of the trees. Forest response was determined by measuring outgoing radiation fluxes and the surface fluxes of momentum, sensible and latent heat. Well-known concepts from micro-meteorology and hydrology were used for the interpretation of the measurement. At times, these concepts had to be adapted for the specific forest situation. One concept is surface layer similarity theory, which enables to categorise observations in a convenient way. A second concept, related to surface layer similarity, is on resistances relating spatial differences in variables to their corresponding fluxes. A third concept is the Penman-Monteith equation, which enables the discrimination between atmospheric control and plant control on transpiration.Turbulent exchange within the roughness sublayer is investigated. The importance of terrain inhomogeneity is studied with footprint analysis and with an inhomogeneous surface layer model. A windspeed dependence of roughness length for momentum and displacement height is found. Surface layer similarity theory is extended to describe the roughness-sublayer influence. This involves the introduction of an additional length scale related to the geometry of the forest. It is found that well- defined flux profile relations exist for momentum and sensible heat in the roughness layer of the current forest. In the roughness layer the exchange of temperature is more efficient than the exchange of momentum. This is in contrast to ...