Our Products
We offer a complete product range of SFM-5 Sap Flow Sensor and SFM-1 Sap Flow Sensor
The SFM-5 is one of the most advanced sap flow sensors on the market. With this sensor, you can perform minimally invasive, high-precision sap flow measurements on all trees with a trunk diameter greater than 1 cm. It is unique in that it can measure up to 33 parameters, allowing you to also determine the water content of the sapwood. You can use the SFM-5 in all climates without restrictions in the field, but also for research in the greenhouse or laboratory. Thus, the sensor offers you the greatest possible flexibility and is suitable for pure users as well as for scientific questions dealing with plant water use, physiology or hydrology. The SFM-5 is compact and inconspicuous, as the electronics are built into the sensor head. The needles are very stable and 8 mm apart.
The Heat Ratio Method (SFM) is a modification of the Compensation Heat Pulse Method (CHPM). SFM represents an improvement on CHPM in that it can also be used to measure very small flow rates and even reverse flow rates. It is possible using this method to determine sap flows in trunks, stalks and roots of various types and sizes of plants under different ecological conditions, right through to drought.
rnA short heat pulse is the tracer for this thermometric method of measuring sap flows in xylem tissue. It is possible to calculate the quantity and direction of the sap flow from the ratio of the amount of heat transported to two symmetrically arranged temperature sensors.
rnThe sensor consists of three 35 mm long needles connected to a 16 bit microprocessor. The top and bottom probes each have two thermistors. The third probe is positioned centrally; it is heated across its entire length and is a linear heat source, generating a constant heat pulse along the sap wood.
rnThe integrated microprocessor is the heart of the fully automated, plug & play capable sensors. It controls all operating settings and sensor calculations, converts analog signals to calibrated values and reads these out via the serial interface. Program variables such as heat pulse interval, energy input, distances between probes and measurement frequency are stored in the memory.
rnSpecial software to optimise data evaluation is available as an optional extra. In conjunction with the Smart Logger SL5, the SFM sensor provides a complete measurement report with detailed information and all variables required to calculate the velocity and volume of the sap flow.