Often obstacles such as shrubs, rocks, or fallen trees can obscure the tree base from view. Tree base is obscured or hidden from view These angles are either subtracted or added depending on whether you are above (added) or below (subtracted) the tree. In addition to tree top angle, you need to measure the angle to the tree base. If the only option available to you is to stand either up or down slope of the tree, and the gradient is such that the base of the tree is above or below eye level, additional angles need to be measured. The equation then becomes h = Tan A x d + eye height. Since your measurements will be made at eye level, you need to know your eye height (height of your eye above the ground). The math used in height calculationsĬalculating tree height requires the use of basic trigonometry: h = Tan A x d, where h is the tree height, d is the distance from tree, and A is the angle to the top of the tree. If possible try and remeasure from a different view point, and always double check your measurements. In challenging forest situations we recommend making more than one attempt to measure height. Trees that are leaning significantly should be measured with the lean to the right or left, not with the lean toward or away from you. The slope of the ground can also make measurement difficult. In dense forests it can be challenging to get a clear view of the tree top.
Height is the hardest measurement to take accurately, especially for larger trees. Measurements become more reliable the greater the distance you are from the tree (the distance you are away from the tree must be greater than the total tree height). You might find it interesting to compare your results using this simple method with the standard methods described below. The distance between your feet and the tree is roughly equivalent to the height of the tree. Carefully walk backwards until the top of the tree lines up with the top of your stick. The stick is held pointing straight up, at 90 degrees to your outstretched, straight arm. The stick must be the same length as your arm or grasped at a point where the length of the stick above your hand equals that of your arm. It just requires a stick and a distance measuring tape. This old but simple method only works on level ground. The stick method- how they built the pyramids! This equipment hastens the measurement process, but it is not necessary. Today Foresters use a Hypsometer – an all in one tool that measures distance, angles and even calculates tree height for you. See Gabriel Hemery’s helpful instructions on using iHandy Carpenter to measure tree height. Here are two possible options: Smart Measure and iHandy Carpenter. If purchasing an inclinometer (Abney level, clinometer, etc.) is beyond your budget, or you can’t borrow one, there are mobile phone apps that allow you to use a smartphone as an inclinometer. Other English adjective-noun pairs are related in this way, too: e.g., hale as in “hale and hearty” and health (but hale, except in that expression, is now mostly replaced by “healthy”).You only need three pieces of equipment to properly measure a tree: a measuring tape, a calculator (with cosine and tangent functions), and an inclinometer to measure angles. Obsolete forms include heighth and highth, and it is still common to hear people pronounce it that way.) wi de They follow a common English pattern that involves a vowel change (often to a shorter vowel) and the addition of th. Length, width, height, and depth are nouns are derived from the adjectives long, wide, high, and deep. And, as in two dimensions, terms like “length,” “width,” and “height” won’t feel natural or be clear for some shapes, like a tennis ball. When height would be unclear-for example if the figure is not “level” -people cannot know what is meant by width, depth, or height without labels, although length is generally still assumed to refer to the longest measurement on the figure.