Maple syrup production is one of the heritages in New England as well as many other northern states of the country. In the United States, most maple syrup productions are in small and mid-sized farms, supporting many jobs. It is proposed to develop an acoustic sensor for improving collection of maple sap as raw material of maple syrup production. The sensor developed will replace the empirical determination of spout location by scientific approach, by which maple sap production will be improved. The significance of this Phase I study is to show that the acoustic emission signals can be detected from maple trees and the ones generated by sap flow can be identified, and that the significant features of the sap flow induced AE signals can be used for finding best location of spout to optimize the sap collection in maple syrup production. The Phase I study will also provide a solid experimental background for implementation of the proposed innovation in the Phase II development. In the Phase I effort, five tasks have been outlined. These are 1: Acoustic emission instrumentation development, 2: Laboratory AE tests, 3: Pre-season field experimental preparation, 4: Field Experiments and demonstration, and 5: Final report and Phase II proposal.
