Set up of a Multi-User Laboratory specializing in the use of near-infrared spectroscopy and X-ray densitometry in agroforestry applications

• Grant number: 09/53951-7
• Support type: Multi-user Equipment Program
• Duration: December 01, 2010 - December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Technology and Use of Forest Products
• Principal Investigator: Mario Tommasiello Filho
• Grantee: Mario Tommasiello Filho
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• EMU web page: Página do Equipamento Multiusuário não informada
• Tipo de equipamento: Tipo de Equipamento Multiusuário não informado
• Fabricante: Fabricante não informado
• Modelo: Modelo não informado

Abstract

The objective of this request is the establishment of a multi-user laboratory specializing in the use of nearinfrared (NIR) spectroscopy and X-ray densitometry methods in agroforestry applications, operating under the a USPices of the ESALQ Department of Forest Sciences. We consider strategic to establish a laboratory in this line of research in the State of São Paulo, based on a network of nationally and internationally renowned institutions: 16 universities in six countries (Brazil, Portugal, France, Argentina, Peru, and Costa Rica); and 8 research institutes. The laboratory will have a multiplying effect, promoting the formation of new research groups that will push the frontiers of knowledge in analytical methodologies, making these lines of research competitive at the international level. The laboratory will have the strategy of attracting and aggregating specialists in other areas of knowledge, with common research interests and in the professional training of young investigators and graduate research students. According to the Institute for Scientific Information, as of 2002, Brazilian researchers had published only thirty scientific articles involving NIR spectroscopy: six in the area of agriculture and of forest sciences; and one related to the analysis of wood pulp from eucalyptus trees. Between 2003 and 2009, Brazilian researchers published twentyfour forest sciences or forest products technology studies involving NIR spectroscopy. However, only one of those articles was attributed to an institution in the State of São Paulo. Despite the fact that forestry is one of the most important sectors in Brazil, Brazilian scientific production in forest sciences is still in the incipient phase, with only 6-7 citations/year. In the application of X-ray densitometry, the ESALQ Department of Forest Sciences Laboratory has distinguished itself on the national stage and in Latin America as a whole. As the only laboratory specializing in the use of X-ray densitometry in agroforestry applications, it interacts with a network of national and international research institutes. However, the equipment employed (scanner and X-ray equipment) were manufactured more than three decades ago, and replacement parts are no longer available, making repairs impossible. There are X-ray equipment available that allow the direct reading of wood samples (processed or unprocessed), dispensing the onerous and prolonged process of creating radiographs. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LUIS MARCELO-PENA, JOSE; ROIG, FIDEL A.; GOODWIN, ZOE A.; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO. Characterizing growth rings in the trees of Peru: A wood anatomical overview for potential applications in dendroecological-related fields. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 62, AUG 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.