Internal Structure Characterization of Living Tree Trunk Cross-Section Using GPR: Numerical Examples and Field Data Analysis

This paper reports a ray-based tomography method using ground penetrating radar (GPR) to reconstruct the internal structure of the trunk cross-section of a living oak tree. The point cloud technique is used to depict the shape and size of the truck cross-section. A GPR ray-based tomography method is used to image the velocity and attenuation distribution of a living trunk cross-section. The tomography technique is tested on synthetic data from a typical healthy oak model and a rotted oak model. The feasibility is evaluated from the numerical experiments. Field data is acquired on an oak tree by using CSSI SIR-3000 radar system, the radar dataset consists of 30 radar profiles, travel time and centroid frequency downshift information are extracted from the radar dataset to reconstruct the permittivity and electrical conductivity distribution of the living trunk cross-section.