diff --git a/docs/source/umami.calculations.metric.drainage_density.rst b/docs/source/umami.calculations.metric.drainage_density.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c92ddb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/umami.calculations.metric.drainage_density.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+drainage_density: calculate drainage_density
+--------------------------------------------
+
+.. automodule:: umami.calculations.metric.drainage_density
+   :members:
+   :undoc-members:
+   :show-inheritance:
diff --git a/docs/source/umami.calculations.rst b/docs/source/umami.calculations.rst
index a47b542..8a78411 100644
--- a/docs/source/umami.calculations.rst
+++ b/docs/source/umami.calculations.rst
@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ Calculations for Metrics or Residuals
    umami.calculations.metric.aggregate
    umami.calculations.metric.chi_intercept_gradient
    umami.calculations.metric.count_equal
+   umami.calculations.metric.drainage_density
    umami.calculations.metric.hypsometric_integral
    umami.calculations.metric.mask_aggregation
    umami.calculations.metric.watershed_aggregation
 
+
 Calculations for Residuals only
 -------------------------------
 
diff --git a/umami/calculations/metric/drainage_density.py b/umami/calculations/metric/drainage_density.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30311ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/umami/calculations/metric/drainage_density.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+"""
+"""
+from landlab.components import DrainageDensity
+
+
+def _validate_drainage_density(drainage_density):
+    if not isinstance(drainage_density, DrainageDensity):
+        msg = "umami: A valid instance of a DrainageDensity is required."
+        raise ValueError(msg)
+
+
+def drainage_density(drainage_density):
+    r"""Return the drainage density.
+
+    This is a loose wrapper around the Landlab function
+    `DrainageDensity.calculate_drainage_density`_.
+
+    .. _DrainageDensity.calculate_drainage_density:
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    drainage_density : an instance of a `DrainageDensity`_
+
+
+    .. _DrainageDensity:
+
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    out : float
+        The drainage density.
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    First an example that only uses the ``calculate_drainage_density`` function.
+
+    >>> import numpy as np
+    >>> from landlab import RasterModelGrid
+    >>> from landlab.components import FlowAccumulator, DrainageDensity
+    >>> from umami.calculations import drainage_density
+    >>> grid = RasterModelGrid((10, 10))
+    >>> z = grid.add_zeros("node", "topographic__elevation")
+    >>> z += grid.x_of_node**2 + grid.y_of_node**2
+    >>> fa = FlowAccumulator(grid)
+    >>> fa.run_one_step()
+
+    The Landlab ``DrainageDensity`` component can be initialized with either
+    an area exponent and coefficient, a slope exponent and coefficient, and a
+    threshold, OR a mask. Umami can support either of these options.
+
+    >>> dd = DrainageDensity(grid, )
+    >>> drainage_density = dd.calculate_drainage_density()
+    >>> np.round(drainage_density(dd), decimals=1)
+    -4.0
+
+    Next, the same calculations are shown as part of an umami ``Metric``.
+
+    >>> from io import StringIO
+    >>> from umami import Metric
+    >>> grid = RasterModelGrid((10, 10))
+    >>> z = grid.add_zeros("node", "topographic__elevation")
+    >>> z += grid.x_of_node**2 + grid.y_of_node**2
+    >>> file_like=StringIO('''
+    ... dd:
+    ...     _func: drainage_density
+    ... ''')
+    >>> metric = Metric(
+    ...     grid,
+    ...     drainage_density_kwds={"min_drainage_area": 1.0})
+    >>> metric.add_from_file(file_like)
+    >>> metric.names
+    ['dd']
+    >>> metric.calculate()
+    >>> np.round(metric.values, decimals=0)
+    array([-4.])
+    """
+    _validate_drainage_density(drainage_density)
+    dd = drainage_density.calculate_drainage_density()
+    return dd
diff --git a/umami/metric.py b/umami/metric.py
index 2798ac6..f4cfa9e 100755
--- a/umami/metric.py
+++ b/umami/metric.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ def __init__(
         grid,
         flow_accumulator_kwds=None,
         chi_finder_kwds=None,
+        drainage_density_kwds=None, 
         metrics=None,
     ):
         """
diff --git a/umami/residual.py b/umami/residual.py
index 2880ad2..62f2c2f 100644
--- a/umami/residual.py
+++ b/umami/residual.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ def __init__(
         data,
         flow_accumulator_kwds=None,
         chi_finder_kwds=None,
+        drainage_density_kwds=None,
         residuals=None,
     ):
         """