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London, March 2005 Fujikura Europe Ltd appointed exclusive UK distributors of the TreeRadar
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Article below to appear in forthcoming issue of Essential Arb:

The holy grail

Root AND Tree inspection in one device...

American Dr Tony Mucciardi (visiting Professor at the US Naval Academy) with a background in engineering and non-destructive testing using non-invasive techniques, particularly ultrasound, undertook a range of R&D work for all the major utilities in the US. He was asked to test for decay in wooden utility poles following their collapse en masse in eastern Colorado leading to a major power failure. Problem solved, he then started to think about decay in living trees – a slightly different prospect from the uniformly round, smooth poles, which are free from roots, branches, bark and leaves. During his research, he 'became acquainted with ground penetrating radar'.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has been used for over a quarter-of-a-century for a variety of underground inspection purposes from roadwork/construction applications to forensics and archaeology. It works by detecting changes in the electromagnetic properties of the soil caused by different strata and buried objects.

This was around five years ago. He contacted the three major manufacturers of GPR – in Canada, the US and Sweden. The US supplier loaned him equipment which he modified for tree root and stem inspection developing a non-invasive sensor and writing software specific for this purpose. He is now beginning to market the equipment commercially in the US (with his company TreeRadar Inc) and, with the help of the internet, is generating interest further afield which explains his recent visit to the UK with the system in tow.

The UK connection came about when the system appeared on UK arb websites following demos at American trade shows. This led to the inevitable questions – 'how does it compare?'; 'what does it cost?'; and 'where can I get one?'

One consulting arborist, specialising in the soil – and root-based problem area, asking such questions was Charing Heath, Kent-based Jon Heuch who was prepared to go one step further and make the trip to the States to see the system in operation. However, Phil Wade of Fujikura Europe Limited (FEL), who had also spoken to Jon had already made the initial contact and invited Tony to come to the UK. The interest generated on the net and the exciting prospects offered by the UK arb scene were enough to entice Tony who made the trip in early February.

'It's more exciting here (in the UK) than I thought' he told 'essentialARB’. You are much more high-tech-orientated than in the US and with systems like PICUS being more accepted here, the UK is leading the market in non-invasive arb techniques.

'When Phil told me how many of the PICUS FEL had sold I couldn't believe it. I thought he'd misplaced a zero!’ Tony was impressed by how much more UK arborists are willing to pay for advanced safety technology than in the States.

Fujikura of course distribute the PICUS and a range of other complimentary decay detection equipment along with a comprehensive range of arb kit and caboodle not to mention the sort of advice that only experience can bring and money can't buy.

They arranged for Tony to visit selected trees at sites around the south of England (Longleat, Hyde Park, Maida Vale – site of the infamous Delaware Road Mansions dispute, Ealing and Bath). He would be in the distinguished company of John Harraway, who among many other things undertakes all tree inspection works for the Royal Parks.

John was also first recipient of the now-popular PICUS system almost two years ago. Who better then to evaluate the system than John and to distribute it, if its potential was proven, than Fujikura?

The new device would be tested on trees which John had been monitoring over the years and for which he already had PICUS tomography information.

The Tree Radar system operates on the principle that as the non-invasive sensor is moved around the tree stem or, in the case of root surveys, along the ground, a radar pulse is emitted every 5mm travelled. This pulse can penetrate up to ~70cm into the stem or up to 1 metre soil depth. In effect it can be thought of as a ‘virtual microdrill’ which probes the stem or ground every 5mm but non-invasively.

Speed of the operation, effectively, is in relation to how long it takes to the walk round the trunk or traverse the ground. The radar pulse can penetrate through concrete, asphalt or paving stones but is affected by extremely dense clay. However it coped well with root surveys in the predominantly clay-based London locations chosen specifically to evaluate the device under these operating conditions.

'Every 5mm it fires an electromagnetic signal looking for changes in dielectric constant properties of the tree or ground', Tony said. As there is a significant difference in the dielectric properties of wood, soil, water and air, areas where there are a ‘mis­match’ of dielectric properties can be detected and quantified.

'PICUS uses time of flight, we use time of flight too’ said Tony. ‘Whereas PICUS operates by going from one sensor to another which are carefully spaced around the tree (send/receive principle), this system works on the pulse/echo principle. The hundreds of readings produce wave forms which are recorded and stored automatically. It creates a cross-sectional image of the tree's internal condition for each elevation and contour plots of the root's biomass.’

Tony initially was working almost exclusively on trunk decay but found that 90% of interest in his device was focussed on tree roots. And it looks like this is where the main focus of the equipment will lie in the UK.

PICUS tomogram of the London plane clearly showing the problem areas.

'This is the Holy Grail for arborists,' said Fujikura's Phil Wade. 'This is right up our street as the leading supplier of hi-tech equipment to the arb profession; there are guys salivating out there waiting to get their hands on this. We didn't know what to expect initially but we have been very impressed and its really strong point is that it does roots. I was amazed to learn from Jon Heuch that there are literally tens of thousands of legal cases ongoing involving problems thought to be due to tree roots. ‘Since returning to the States Tony has confirmed that FEL will be the exclusive distributors in the UK and other selected territories' said Phil. ‘We are in the process of obtaining a system and will go to the States for intensive training before offering it here within the next few months. Those interested in seeing the TreeRadar are invited to contact us right away as we anticipate a lot of demand for this system'.

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