title: Sap flow sensors: construction, quality control and comparison.
abstract: This work provides a design for two types of sensors, based on the thermal dissipation and heat ratio methods of sap flow calculation, for moderate to large scale deployments for the purpose of monitoring tree transpiration. These designs include a procedure for making these sensors, a quality control method for the final products, and a complete list of components with vendors and pricing information. Both sensor designs were field tested alongside a commercial sap flow sensor to assess their performance and show the importance for quality controlling the sensor outputs. Results show that for roughly 2% of the cost of commercial sensors, self-made sap flow sensors can provide acceptable estimates of the sap flow measurements compared to the commercial sensors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O'Hara Street 941 Benedum Engineering Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. twd2@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Tyler W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Chen-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Pao-Shan
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D031002:Acer / Q000502:physiology; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D002138:Calibration; D004560:Electricity; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000191:economics; D016014:Linear Models; D053147:Plant Exudates / Q000502:physiology*; D011786:Quality Control; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D053147:Plant Exudates