TRU System Operation

Tree Trunk Inspection Using the TRU System

A technician holds the antenna, with an attached "survey" wheel against the tree at a selected elevation and walks around the tree at a normal pace. The field data acquisition computer automatically generates a radar waveform for every 0.2 inch (5 mm) of circumference traversed (as reported automatically to the computer by the survey wheel). A complete 360-degree pass around the tree produces hundreds of waveforms, one for every 0.2 inch (5 mm), that are stored in the field computer.

The technician thus creates a "radargram" - an ensemble of radar reflected waveforms - in a completely automated manner. The technician's only task is to hold the antenna against the bark while walking around the tree; the field computer does the pulsing and recording automatically.

The technician can record other radargrams by making additional circumferential passes at different elevations. These multi-elevation scans are important for determining the decay profile.

It takes only one minute to create and record each scan. After the data have been recorded, the post-processing data-analysis software module, TreeWin, is used to read the radargram and to create a cross-section image that represents the internal trunk structure for each elevation scanned. A thickness plot, showing a 360-degree plot of the remaining solid wood, and including a hazard risk threshold, is printed for each elevation scanned.

These output graphics are shown in the Data and Case Studies page.

Root Inspection Using the TRU System

Set up is easy and total scanning can be performed usually within one hour.