Investigations on the Effects of Seasonal Temperature Changes on the Electrical Resistance of Living Trees
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Selection of Sample Wood
2.2. Test Equipment
2.3. Test Methods
3. Data Processing Methods
3.1. Calculation of Resistance Values
3.2. Correction of the Moisture Content
4. Results
4.1. The Variation of Electrical Resistance in the Cross-Section of Living Trees with Seasonal Temperature under Different Moisture Contents
4.2. The Variation of Electrical Resistance in the Cross-Section of Living Trees with Moisture Content under Different Seasonal Temperatures
4.3. The Combined Effects of Seasonal Temperature and Moisture Content on the Electrical Resistance in the Cross-Section of Living Trees
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- No matter whether it was solid or decayed, ambient temperature had a significant effect on electrical resistance in the cross-section of living trees when the temperature was below the freezing point of water. The electrical resistance in the cross-sections of measured in winter was more than 15 times higher than when it was obtained above 0 °C. The increase of electrical resistance measured in winter was attributed to the phase change of free water in wood cells and the increased number of ice crystals in the wood.
- (2)
- When the temperature was below the freezing point, logR decreased with increasing temperature. Near the freezing point, logR changed rapidly with increasing temperature. Above the freezing point, logR changed slowly with the variations in the temperature and then became stable. At different temperatures, logR in the cross-sections of two trees species changed slowly with a change in the moisture content (moisture content was above the fiber saturation point). This value tended to be smooth with a further change in the moisture content.
- (3)
- The changes in the trends of logR in the cross-sections of solid and decayed trees were similar with the changes in temperature. At the same temperature, logR in the cross-sections of sound trees of the same tree species was slightly higher compared to the decayed ones. Although not too much difference between the sound and decayed trees was seen in this study, it is possible to detect decay in tree stems with the technique applied, confirming the results of previous studies. In this study, we used the average value of the electrical resistance obtained in the cross-section of the standing trees, which was likely the reason why the difference between sound and decayed trees was not obvious. However, to improve confidence in the application of ERT to trees, a more detailed investigation that separates sound and decayed sections of each tree should be performed in further studies.
- (4)
- Seasonal changes in the temperature and moisture content had interactive effects on logR, and the established linear regression model between the moisture content, temperature, and logR both had a high degree of fitting and a good determination coefficient with R2 above 0.8. For practical work, it is important to estimate the effect of changing moisture content or temperature, and predictions could be made using the linear regression model.
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Species | Regression Model | R2 | R |
---|---|---|---|
Populus simonii Carr. | y = 0.9836x + 83.737 | 0.782 | 0.884 |
Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr. | y = 1.5004x + 50.162 | 0.743 | 0.862 |
Species | Regression Model y = ax1 + bx2 + c | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y | x1 | x2 | c | b | a | R2 | F | sig | |
Populus simonii | logR | T | MC | 6.34 | −0.02 | −0.50 | 0.89 | 315.9 | 0 |
Larix gmelinii | logR | T | MC | 6.87 | −0.02 | −0.52 | 0.86 | 198.83 | 0 |
Species | Regression Model y = ax1 + bx2 + c | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y | x1 | x2 | c | b | a | R2 | F | sig | |
Populus simonii | logR | T | MC | 5.93 | −0.01 | −0.44 | 0.88 | 246.61 | 0 |
Larix gmelinii | logR | T | MC | 5.46 | −0.01 | −0.36 | 0.88 | 234.53 | 0 |
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Yue, X.; Wang, L.; Shi, X.; Xu, M.; Zhu, Z. Investigations on the Effects of Seasonal Temperature Changes on the Electrical Resistance of Living Trees. Forests 2018, 9, 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090550
Yue X, Wang L, Shi X, Xu M, Zhu Z. Investigations on the Effects of Seasonal Temperature Changes on the Electrical Resistance of Living Trees. Forests. 2018; 9(9):550. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090550
Chicago/Turabian StyleYue, Xiaoquan, Lihai Wang, Xiaolong Shi, Mingxian Xu, and Zhiming Zhu. 2018. "Investigations on the Effects of Seasonal Temperature Changes on the Electrical Resistance of Living Trees" Forests 9, no. 9: 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090550