Like all living things, trees also suffer from aging, disease, and all-around decay. Unlike most organisms, however, trees are very secretive about their health. Even to the trained eye, it can be very difficult to assess whether a tree is old or in a bad shape, as a thick bark can conceal even the most advanced decay on the inside. Luckily, there are ways to probe a tree’s health without having to physically retrieve samples or make any cuts. You only have to listen.
The PiCUS Sonic Tomograph is used for tree risk assessments in order to measure the thickness of the residual wall of trees with internal defects such as cavities or decay non-invasively. Most often the PiCUS sonic tomograms are recorded near ground level of trees. However, acoustic tomograms also reveal important safety information about the breaking risk near branch wounds and above ground cavities.