Dendrometer

Electronic dendrometers are high precision instruments allowing continuous measurement of changes (diameters, circumferences or lengths) of different parts of plants (eg dynamic growth or changes in diurnal diameters of fruits or stems). Dendrometers make it possible to prove and document the response of plants to their environment with great precision.

In plant research, the time scale is very broad: it is usually between minutes and decades (period of 10 years), depending on the specific research requirements.

In contrast to other plant and environmental parameters, which are measured with high temporal resolution (in hours or even shorter), changes in yield, biomass and tree diameter are generally measured annually.

Electronic dendrometers allow us to record size changes of measurable parts of the plant, stem or fruit with high temporal resolution and therefore allow direct attribution of plant responses to environmental factors. Dendrometers are therefore useful, efficient and cost-effective tools for plant research.

Typical applications:

• plant growth process monitoring
• monitoring the water status of the plant in the context of:
• ecological research
• irrigation control
• construction activities impacting groundwater
• examination of the influence of environmental factors on plant growth
• precise dating of the start and end of plant growth
• precise determination of the occurrence of freezing events
• estimation of the water content and water storage areas of the plant (in combination with the measurement of the sap flow, the transpiration of the plant can be calculated)
• monitoring and stability study of roads as well as trees and branches of parks
• loss of water on fruits and vegetables during storage

Advantages of Ecomatik dendrometers:

• equipment developed over more than 15 years, in service in more than 40 countries in all climates and all latitudes: polar, tropical, high mountains, underwater
• high resolution up to 0.2 µm (depending on the chosen data logger)
• temperature compensated
• very wide selection offered for different measurement needs: radius, diameter, circumference, fruits, vegetables, vertical changes
• low power consumption allowing continuous measurement for more than 12 months with its internal battery (in combination with the D18 data logger)
• compatible with most data loggers on the market (e.g. Campbell, Delta-T, Datataker)