Overview of the National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center (NIMAC)

Abstract

The National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center (NIMAC) was created by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program in 2006. NIMAC addresses a growing need, expressed by FIA partners, for technical assistance in designing and implementing monitoring plans for forests at scales finer than that provided by the FIA standard inventory. NIMAC's goal is to develop leading-edge forest ecosystem monitoring methods and tools to help FIA and other organizations monitor forests, resulting in comparable results across the landscape. Methods and software tools are designed for use by land managers and across ownerships at landscape to national scales. To date, NIMAC has helped six states develop more specific inventories on their lands and is working with several National Forests on developing forest monitoring plans. NIMAC is developing a monitoring toolkit composed of a design tool, field data collection software, data storage and compilation tools, and spatial/tabular analysis tools. The toolkit will be applicable to a wide range of customers including the National Forest System, states, and FIA itself. Honduras is funding the development of a Spanish version of the toolkit. NIMAC is being funded to work with National Forest System monitoring coordinators and planners to develop the question-driven monitoring design and analysis tools to help ensure that data are collected and analyzed efficiently and in a scientifically defensible manner. NIMAC's software enhancements also will provide added flexibility to FIA customers.

Parent Publication

• Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008; October 21-23, 2008; Park City, UT

Citation

Scott, Charles T. 2009. Overview of the National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center (NIMAC). In: McWilliams, Will; Moisen, Gretchen; Czaplewski, Ray, comps. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008; October 21-23, 2008; Park City, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-56CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 8 p.