Design and implementation of a low-cost device for measuring sap flow in woody species

Transpiration is a key variable in water balance. Sap flow measurement methods allow to estimate transpiration at plant level, but scalable at the stand, river basin or ecosystem level. This requires recording data continuously, for which there are commercial devices, but they are specialized and ex...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: María Fernanda Cárdenas, Cristina López Ramírez, Juan Diego Mejía, Jhon Fredy Escobar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2019-01-01
Series:Dyna
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/dyna/article/view/72039
Description
Summary:Transpiration is a key variable in water balance. Sap flow measurement methods allow to estimate transpiration at plant level, but scalable at the stand, river basin or ecosystem level. This requires recording data continuously, for which there are commercial devices, but they are specialized and expensive. This document shows that it is possible to integrate a data capture, management and storage system, as a counterpart to a commercial system such as Campbell's CR-100, for measuring and recording environmental variables, with a notable reduction in costs. The methodology used to develop a device for the estimation of sap flow using the heat ratio method, the design of the Arduino-based  electronic circuit and the software, with register 13-64-171 of the Dirección Nacional de Derechos de Autor, is presented.
ISSN:0012-7353
2346-2183