Assessing the internal structure of hollow trees using GPR and microwave tomography

Tosti, Fabio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0291-9937, Gennarelli, Gianluca, Lantini, Livia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0416-1077, Catapano, Ilaria, Zou, Lilong ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5109-4866, Soldovieri, Francesco and Alani, Amir (2020) Assessing the internal structure of hollow trees using GPR and microwave tomography. In: 2020 43rd International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP), 07-09 July 2020, Milan, Italy.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1109/tsp49548.2020.9163459

Abstract

Trees and woodlands are nowadays threatened by variety of aggressive diseases and fungal infections. As a result, internal decays in trees, can lead to the creation of cavities and large holes inside the trunks, which in turn can seriously undermine the stability and the integrity of the tree. In this regard, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has recently proven to be an effective non-destructive testing (NDT) method, with the potential of providing information about the internal structure of trees. However, the particular shape of tree trunks prevents the use of traditional data processing techniques, and only limited information can be collected for tree health assessment purposes. This study shows the potential of GPR enhanced by a microwave tomography inversion approach in detecting tree cavities and hollows. A hollow tree was investigated by performing a set of circular GPR scans, and the internal structure of the trunk was reconstructed via tomographic imaging. The achieved results were validated by way of comparison with real sections cut from the tree and prove the validity of the proposed methodology in identifying the dimension and shape of cavities and hollows in tree trunks.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
ISBN:	9781728163772
Identifier:	10.1109/tsp49548.2020.9163459
Page Range:	pp. 453-456
Additional Information:	F. Tosti et al., "Assessing the Internal Structure of Hollow Trees Using GPR and Microwave Tomography," 2020 43rd International Conference on Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP), Milan, Italy, 2020, pp. 453-456, doi: 10.1109/TSP49548.2020.9163459.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ground-penetrating radar (GPR); hollow trees; microwave tomography; NDT; tree health monitoring
Subjects:	Construction and engineering > Civil and environmental engineering Construction and engineering > Digital signal processing Construction and engineering > Electrical and electronic engineering Construction and engineering
Related URLs:	Organisation Publisher Publisher
Depositing User:	Livia Lantini
Date Deposited:	01 Jun 2020 16:56
Last Modified:	28 Aug 2021 07:13
URI:	http://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/7005

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Assessing the internal structure of hollow trees using GPR and microwave tomography

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