Measuring wood density by means of X-ray computer tomography

Wood density is a characteristic of major interest. Usually, it is used as an indicator of wood quality; however, in the context of global change, it is increasingly used for biomass and carbon storage estimations. X-ray computer tomography is a method which enables quick estimates of wood density after applying a calibration procedure. A review of the literature is presented in this article. Most of the previous studies have been performed in the 80's or at the beginning of the 90's. In this study, the relationship between wood density and Hounsfield numbers was investigated using a recent medical scanner. A linear relationship was fitted using a calibration data set which consisted in tropical wood samples representing a large range of densities ranging between 133 and 1319 kg m(-3), and then validated using an independent data set (mainly temperate tree species). The fitted relationships were very strong (R-2 > 0.999), whichever the tested scanner settings, with slight but significant effects of the current voltage and reconstruction filters. The RMSE values computed from the validation data set ranged between 5.4 and 7.7 kg m(-3) for densities ranging between 364 and 821 kg m(-3). In conclusion, this method of calibration enables the use of a medical scanner to obtain maps of wood density, in a fast and non destructive way, and with a very good accuracy. Very interesting perspectives are opened regarding biomass distribution within trees.