Multi-Year Tree Motion Measurements from a Colorado Subalpine Fir, 2014-2020

12 Hz three-axis acceleration data recorded from November 2014 through August 2020 on a subalpine fir tree near the Niwot Ridge LTER site in Colorado. The dataset, created by Mark S. Raleigh of Oregon State University, is stored in netCDF files with time and acceleration counts in vertical, east-west, and north-south directions.

Use Cases

• Modeling tree sway and structural dynamics based on high-frequency three-axis acceleration data.
• Analyzing wind patterns and their interaction with forest canopies based on long-term motion measurements.
• Calibrating or validating ecological models of tree response to environmental stressors using a multi-year time series.
• Studying diurnal or seasonal patterns in tree motion linked to meteorological events mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data spans nearly six years, from November 2014 through August 2020, providing a long-term record.
• High-frequency 12 Hz sampling captures detailed motion dynamics.
• Acceleration is measured in three orthogonal axes (vertical, east-west, north-south), allowing for 3D motion analysis.
• Data includes a documented conversion factor to translate raw counts to gravitational units (g).

Limitations

• Row count and total file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale ML projects.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics beyond the four listed variables must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Oregon State University (Mark S. Raleigh)

Collection Method

Recorded by an accelerometer mounted to the bole of a subalpine fir tree.

Time Range

November 2014 through August 2020

Freshness

Data collection ended in August 2020; last update date for the repository is unknown.

Geography

Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Colorado, USA, near the C-1 Ameriflux tower.