Measure the Height of a Tree - tips

Video: How to measure the height of a tree

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In a secret location in Northern California, a tree called Hyperion has been measured with a world record measurement of 115.61 m! Believe it or not, an extremely long string has been used for measuring, but there are other easier ways to measure yourself. If you don't need a centimeter-specific measure, the steps below will give you a pretty close approximation, and can be applied to any tall object. Telephone poles, buildings, or even legendary beanstalks: as long as you can see the top, you can measure it.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Use a Paper

Use this method to determine the height of a tree without calculation. All you need is a sheet of paper and a tape measure. Not calculated; however, if you want to learn how this method works, you may need a little knowledge of trigonometry.
- The method of using the inclinometer and meridians requires calculation and understanding of why this method works, but you do not need to do so to find out the height using this method.
Fold the paper in half to create a triangle. If the paper is rectangular (not square), you have to cut it off to get square. Fold one corner to create a triangle with the opposite side, cutting excess paper above the triangle. You will get the triangle you need.
- The triangle will have one angle 90º and two angles 45º.
Keep the triangle in front of the side of your eye. Hold the angle 90º and rotate the rest of the triangle towards you. A triangle edge will lie parallel to the ground and one edge will be vertical. You can look along the longest edge by raising your eyes.
- The longest edge you are looking at is called the hypotenuse of the triangle.
Move away from the tree until you can see the top of the tree that coincides with the top of the triangle. Close one eye and look with the other eye straight along the hypotenuse until you can see the top of the tree correctly. Find the point where your gaze along the hypotenuse meets the top of the tree.
Mark this point and measure the distance from there to the stump. This distance approximately tree height. Add your height to that distance as you see the tree from the height of your eyes to the ground. Now you have the answer!
- To find out how this method works, see the section on "Using the Meridian Tilt and Aiming Instruments". You don't need to calculate anything in this method because there's a little trick here: the tangent of the 45º angle (you used) equals 1.The equation can be written as simply: (The height of the tree) / (The distance from the tree to the point where you see the top) = 1. Multiply the sides of the equation by (Distance from the tree to the point where you see the top tree) and you will get: Height of tree = Distance from tree to point where you see the treetop.
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Method 2 of 4: Compare Shading

Use this method if you only have a ruler or ruler. You don't need any other tools to do this method, and you will be able to get an accurate estimate of the tree height. You just have to do multiplication operations.
- If you don't want to do math, you can go to the internet to use a calculator to determine the height of a tree, such as this kind of calculator, and fill in the measurements you found using the method above.
Measure your height. Use a tape measure or tape measure to measure your height when standing upright. Measure while wearing the shoes that you would be wearing with this method. You need a piece of paper to measure your height so you don't forget the exact number.
- The number you measure should have units of consistency, such as in centimeters rather than meters and centimeters. If you are not sure how to convert the units, you can use a tape measure (meter). Use the ruler length and the ruler shadow length when you are asked to use it.
- If you have to be in a wheelchair or cannot stand upright for any other reason, measure your height anywhere when you go out to measure the height of the trees.
Stand on flat, sunny ground near the tree. Try to find a spot where your ball stretches on flat ground to get the correct measurement. For best results, use this method on a sunny, clear day. If it was cloudy, it would be difficult to accurately measure the shadow.
Measure the length of your shadow. Use a tape measure or tape measure to measure the distance from your heel to the top of your shadow. If there is no support, you can mark the end of the shadow by throwing a rock while you are standing. Or better yet, place the stone in one place on the ground, and then position you so that the top of the shadow overlaps with the stone; Then measure the distance from where you are to where the stone is.
- Write and name each measurement as soon as you calculate it to avoid confusion.
Measure tree shadow length. Use the ruler to determine the length of the tree's shadow from the stump to the top of the shadow. This is most successful when the ground around the shadow is fairly flat; If the tree is in a steep position, for example, the measurements will not be completely accurate. Do this as soon as you measure your shadow because the shift of the sun will change the shadow length.
- If the shade is in a steep position, there is another time of the day when the shadow avoids the slope by shortening or deflecting to the other direction.
Add 1/2 of the tree's width to the length of the tree's shadow. Most trees are erect, so the top of the tree is at the center of the tree. To calculate the length of the tree's shade, you need to add 1/2 the diameter of the trunk to the tree shade. This is because the tallest tip usually has a shadow longer than you can measure; some of the tops fall behind the trunk so you cannot see it.
- Measure the trunk of the tree with a ruler or long tape measure, dividing the tree in half to get 1/2 the tree's width. If you don't know how to measure it, draw a square close to the base of the tree and measure one side of the square.
Calculate the height of the tree using the results you recorded. There are 3 results you have recorded: your height, your shadow length, and tree shadow length (1/2 of the trunk width included). The length of an object's shadow is proportional to its length. In other words, if you divide (your height) by (the length of your shadow), it will be equal to (the height of the tree) divided by (the length of the tree's shadow). We can use this equation to find the height of a tree:
- Multiply the tree's shadow length by your height. If you are 1.5 m tall, and the tree shadow is 30.48 m long, multiply these two numbers together: 1.5 x 30.48 = 45.72).
- Divide the result by your shadow length. For the example above, if your shadow is 2.4 m long, do the division calculation: 45.72 / 2.4 = 19.05 m).
- If you're not doing this well, use an online calculator to determine the height of a tree, such as this calculator.
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Method 3 of 4: Using a Pencil and a Helper

Use this method as an alternative to the shading method. Though less accurate, you can use this method when shading isn't working, on a cloudy day, for example. Also, if you have a scroll bar, you don't have to do any math. If not, then you will need the ruler and do some simple multiplication.
Stand far enough away to see the entire tree from base to tip without moving your head. For the most accurate measurement, you need to stand on the same level as the ground around the base of the tree, no higher or lower. The better the visibility is without obstructions.
Extend your arms and hold a pencil. You can replace the pencil with anything small and straight, like a paint stick or ruler. Holding the pencil in hand, stretch your arms so that the pen is right in front of you (between you and the tree).
Close one eye and set the pen up or down so that you can see the tip of the pencil coincide with the tip of the tree. The easiest way is to turn the tip of the pencil upwards. The tip will cover the top of the tree as you see the tree "past" the pencil.
Move your thumb up or down the pencil until the tip is straight with the stump. While holding the pen in the same position as the tip of the pen with the tip (as in step 3), move the thumb to a point on the pen that coincides with the point at the base (seen with one eye). Now the pencil covers the entire length of the tree from base to tip.
Rotate the arm so that the pen is horizontal (parallel to the ground). Keep your arms straight at the same distance as before and make sure the pen stays in line with the stump.
Ask a helper - maybe a friend - to move so you can see them "past" the pencil. That means their legs are aligned with the pencil's tip. The distance between you and the helper must also be the same as the distance between you and the tree, no further or closer. Depending on the height of the tree, you may be able to stand far away from your friend, use hand signals (hand without pencil) to tell them to stand farther, closer, or shift left or right.
If you have a tape measure, measure the distance between the helper and the tree. Have them stand or mark the spot with a stone or stick. Use the ruler to measure the distance between the marked point and the stump. The distance between your friend and the tree is the height of that tree.
If you don't have a ruler, mark your friend's height and that of the tree on the pencil. Draw a line on the pencil where your thumb nail touches; that is the height of a tree from the pencil. Likewise, use a pencil to measure your friend's height with the tip of the pencil coinciding with your friend's head and the part of your thumb pointing to their feet. Make a line in the thumb nail position.
Calculate the results when there are measures. You need to measure the distance length of the pencil and the height of the friend, you can do it at home without having to go back to the tree. Calculate the ratio of the difference in the length of the pencil lines to the height of your friend. For example, if the line on the pencil measures the friend's height is 5 cm and the line for the height of the trunk is 17.5 cm, the height of the tree will be 3.5 times the height of the friend because (17.5 cm / 5 cm = 3.5). If the friend is 180 cm tall, the tree will be: 180 cm x 3.5 = 630 cm (or 6.3 m).
- Attention: If you have a scroll bar when near a tree, you don't need to do any math. Review the above step in the case of "if you have a tape measure" carefully.
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Method 4 of 4: Using the Meridian Tilt and Aiming Instruments

Using this method will give more accurate results. The above methods are also accurate but with a little more calculation and specialized tools you will have more accurate results.It sounds mysterious, but not quite: all you need is a computer that can calculate "tang", a plastic protractor, a straw, a string for you to create your own inclinometer. The inclinometer measures the angle of an object, in this case the angle created by you and the top of the tree. A meridian sight is also used for the same but more complex purpose, using a telescope or laser for more accurate results.
- The same paper is used as the Paper Sheet Method, but this method, in addition to being more precise, allows you to measure the length of any distance, instead of moving back and forth so that the paper is aligned with the trunk.
Measure the distance to the aiming position. Stand with your back to the tree and exit to a point where the ground is equal to the ground around the base of the tree and from there you can clearly see the top of the tree. Walk straight, using the tape measure to measure the distance between you and the tree. You don't have to be at a predetermined distance from the tree, but usually this method works best when you are 1-1.5 times the tree's height.
Measure the angle of elevation to the top of the tree. Look at the top of a tree and use a inclinometer or meridian to measure the "elevation" between the tree and the ground. The angle of lift is the angle made up of two lines — the line on the ground and the line of your eye looking at a point (in this case, the treetop) - to you is the tip of the angle.
Find the tangent of the lift angle. You can find the tangent of an angle using a calculator or trigonometric table. This method of finding the tangent may vary depending on the computer you use, but usually you just need to press the "TAN" key, enter the angle value and press the "equal" (=) key. If the elevation angle is 60 degrees, simply press the “TAN” key, enter the number “60”, and press the equal key.
- Click here to go to the website for calculating tangent of an angle.
- The tangent of an angle in a right triangle is calculated by dividing the adjacent side of the corner by its opposite side. In this case, the opposite side is the height of the tree, the adjacent side is the distance between you and the tree.
Multiply the distance between you and the tree by the tang for the elevation. Remember, you measured that distance in the first place. Multiply this distance by the calculated tangent value. The result will be the height of the tree seen from your eye because that's the position you used to calculate the tangent of an angle.
- If you read the previous step about the tangent definition of an angle, you can see why this approach works. As said, the tangent of an angle = (height of tree) / (distance to tree). Multiply each side of the equation by (distance to tree) and you get (tangent of an angle) x (distance to tree) = (height of tree from your eye)!
Add your height to the result above. You get the exact height of the tree. Since you use the inclinometer and see the meridian from your eyes, not from the ground, you must add your height to get the correct tree height. You can get more accurate results if you measure your height from your eye instead of from the top of your head.
- If using a paper meridian viewfinder, add up the distance from the point where your eyes are viewing the meridian to the ground instead of your height.
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Advice

You can increase the accuracy of the pencil method and use the angle of lift by measuring several times from different points around the tree.
Many trees are not perfectly straight. So, if you use the angle of elevation method, you can make adjustments by measuring the distance between you and the point on the ground just below the tree top, instead of measuring the distance between you and the stump.
You can use tree height measurements as a recreational activity for kids in grades 4 through 7.
To increase the accuracy of the shade method, you can measure the ball of a sewing ruler or straight stick of a known length instead of using the height of a person.
Use uniformity units (for example, multiply and divide meters by meters, centimeters by centimeters)
You can create an inclinometer with a clinometer. See more related articles in the same category to know how.

Warning

These methods will not be effective if plants grow on slopes. Experts will use a meridian viewfinder to measure, but this is too expensive for you to do.
For the elevation method, if you follow the steps correctly, you can calculate the correct height with an error of 0.6-0.9 m, also very easy to make mistakes, especially when the tree is bent or grows in place. slopes. If accuracy is required, contact your local measurement service or similar organization for assistance.