TRACC: An open source software for processing sap flux data from thermal dissipation probes

Ward, Eric J.; Domec, Jean-Christophe; King, John; Sun, Ge; McNulty, Steve; Noormets, Asko

doi:10.1007/s00468-017-1556-0

Title: TRACC: An open source software for processing sap flux data from thermal dissipation probes

Journal Article · Tue May 02 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Trees

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1556-0· OSTI ID:1356901

^[1]; Domec, Jean-Christophe ^[2]; King, John ^[3]; Sun, Ge ^[4]; McNulty, Steve ^[5]; Noormets, Asko ^[3]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
Bordeaux Sciences-Argo, Gradignan Cedex (France); Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)
USDA Forest Service, Raleigh, NC (United States)
USDA Forest Service, Raleigh, NC (United States); USDA, Raleigh, NC (United States)

Here, thermal dissipation probes (TDPs) have become a widely used method of monitoring plant water use in recent years. The use of TDPs requires calibration to a theoretical zero-flow value (ΔT0); usually based upon the assumption that at least some nighttime measurements represent zero-flow conditions. Fully automating the processing of data from TDPs is made exceedingly difficult due to errors arising from many sources. However, it is desirable to minimize variation arising from different researchers’ processing data, and thus, a common platform for processing data, including editing raw data and determination of ΔT0, is useful and increases the transparency and replicability of TDP-based research. Here, we present the TDP data processing software TRACC (Thermal dissipation Review Assessment Cleaning and Conversion) to serve this purpose. TRACC is an open-source software written in the language R, using graphical presentation of data and on screen prompts with yes/no or simple numerical responses. It allows the user to select several important options, such as calibration coefficients and the exclusion of nights when vapor pressure deficit does not approach zero. Although it is designed for users with no coding experience, the outputs of TRACC could be easily incorporated into more complex models or software.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1356901

Journal Information:: Trees, Vol. 31, Issue 5; ISSN 0931-1890

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 10 works

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AquaFlux: Rapid, transparent and replicable analyses of plant transpiration Speckman, Heather; Ewers, Brent E.; Beverly, Daniel P. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.13309	journal	October 2019
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Ecophysiological impacts of Esca, a devastating grapevine trunk disease, on Vitis vinifera L. Ouadi, Loris; Bruez, Emilie; Bastien, Sylvie PLOS ONE, Vol. 14, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222586	journal	September 2019

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