The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL

Increment borer

The increment borer is a must in the backpack of every tree-ring researcher. It allows wood samples to be taken without damaging the tree.

At the WSL tree-ring lab, we sand the cores on a belt sander. Then we measure the tree-ring widths under a stereo microscope connected to a computer, and date them to the exact calendar year using special software.