The main objective of the project is to verify the feasibility of using NIRS Technology to monitor Swietenia macrophylla wood from its origin to the port of export. The project can be considered as an extension of the mahogany and similar wood identification project to the field situation. The NIRS methodology is proven to be functional for controlled analysis situations, and however, for the field situation, wood moisture is an impediment. Thus, in this project, an innovative, punctual and fast wood drying proposal will be tested. Values below 12% of wood moisture necessarily have to be reached for the discriminatory models to work accurately.
The same NIRS methodology can be applied for three distinct purposes: identifying the forest species, identifying the geographic origin, and monitoring the transport of wood. NIRS identification models are viable because they present results in real-time, have equipment of reasonable cost, have mobility, and are easily handled.