Researchers are interested in the swaying speed of trees in the wind through the use of accelerometers, such as Fitbit bracelets. These data make it possible to learn a great deal about the state of the forests and to collect valuable information for water management.
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Just as connected bracelets allow us to learn a lot about our activity physical and even more generally on our health, researchers are interested in movements from trees which sway according to the wind. To do this, they taped accelerometers to their trunks, like a “ Fitbit for trees “.
Several groups of researchers study trees in this way in order to learn more about the environmental conditions in which forests grow. The mass of the tree and that of the canopy alter the sway that can be measured by researchers. When it rains, the mass of the canopy increases, reducing shaft movement. Conversely, in case of droughtthe tree loses mass and rigidity. The tree sways more slowly and allows researchers to detect the water stress of the tree.
Accelerometers to assess the response to climate change
A recent article published in the newspaper Water Resources Research particularly interested in snow. When a tree is covered in snow, the extra mass slows its movement. It allows, for example, to assess the difference between the snow trapped in the canopy, much of which ends up evaporating, and the amount of snow that actually falls to the ground.
Another study published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology uses the same measurements but this time to study the phenology of trees. They can thus detect the change in mass when the leaves grow in the spring or fall in fall. Accelerometers can even reveal the timing of flowering, which would help predict peaks in pollenor the arrival ofinsects invasive.
The use of accelerometers would complement current tools, such as video monitoring of forests, and could allow in the future to assess the response of trees to climate change and determine the species the most resistant.
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