Workshop. Blue Intensity for Dendrochronology (continued)

Free, in person and online

Blue Intensity (BI) is a cost-effective analytical method for measuring relative wood density in the rings of conifer tree species. Since early concept papers in the 1990s/2000s, there has been a recent explosion in the application of this method for both dendroclimatology and historical dating as well as other dendro-disciplines. The beauty of BI is that the analytical costs, mainly related to the cost of a high-quality scanner, are extremely cheap compared to traditional densitometric methods while training is also relatively simple. This means that compared to traditional ring density approaches, higher volumes of data can be produced. There are however limitations of the method with respect to wood colouration issues (i.e. heartwood/sapwood colour changes, fungal discolouration etc) and scanner resolution that can impact the quality of the derived data. In this workshop, through presentations and hands-on measurement and basic analysis, we will introduce the BI method and its application in dendrochronology and communicate both the strengths and limitations of the data produced by current laboratory methods. We will finish by introducing a range of possible solutions to these limitations.