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Abstract
Strategic forest inventory programs collect information for a large number of variables on a relatively sparse array of field plots. Data from these inventories are used to produce estimates for large areas such as states and provinces, regions, or countries. The purpose of management forest inventories is to guide management decisions for small areas such as stands. Management inventories collect data for a smaller number of variables using greater sampling intensities and produce estimates for small areas. Increasingly, management inventories are coming to be regarded as prohibitively expensive. A relatively inexpensive alternative is to use a combination of strategic inventory data and remotely sensed data such as satellite imagery to construct maps of forest attributes and then aggregate pixel predictions to obtain estimates of stand-level means. The study emphases included using forest inventory plot data, Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery, and a modification of the k-Nearest Neighbors technique to construct stem density and basal area maps from which estimates of stand-level means were calculated. The results indicate that although unbiased and precise estimates of stand-level means for below canopy attributes may be difficult to obtain, stands may nevertheless be ranked quite accurately with respect to a combination of stem density and basal area. Such rankings inform management decisions by identifying stands that require immediate attention.
Parent Publication
Citation
McRoberts, Ronald E. 2009. Bridging the gap between strategic and management forest inventories. In: McRoberts, Ronald E.; Reams, Gregory A.; Van Deusen, Paul C.; McWilliams, William H., eds. Proceedings of the eighth annual forest inventory and analysis symposium; 2006 October 16-19; Monterey, CA. Gen. Tech. Report WO-79. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 279-287.
