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Journal of Wood Science

Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Application of near-infrared spectroscopy for moisture-based sorting of green hem-fir timber

Journal of Wood Science volume 57, pages 288–294 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

A rapid, non-destructive, in-line method suitable for sorting green hem-fir timbers (115-mm square) based on moisture content was established by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The accuracy of NIR sorting was compared with a commercial capacitance-type moisture meter. Mixedspecies samples consisting of three moisture classes were assessed in this study. The NIR-based prediction model showed positive correlation with the actual calculated values as determined by oven-drying, regardless of knots, surface roughness, and the mix of two wood species. NIR proved to be capable of detecting the moisture content between all pairs of the three moisture groups, whereas the capacitance-type moisture meter failed to establish a significant difference between middle- and high-moisture groups. These findings clearly demonstrate that NIR spectroscopy has a potential to estimate average moisture of green timber indirectly, although it inherently gives only surface moisture content values, as it is limited by scan depth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Ken Watanabe

  2. Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z4, Canada

    Shawn D. Mansfield & Stavros Avramidis

Authors
  1. Ken Watanabe
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  2. Shawn D. Mansfield
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  3. Stavros Avramidis
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Correspondence to Ken Watanabe.

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Watanabe, K., Mansfield, S.D. & Avramidis, S. Application of near-infrared spectroscopy for moisture-based sorting of green hem-fir timber. J Wood Sci 57, 288–294 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-011-1181-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-011-1181-2

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