Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory
Globally, forests are a crucial natural resource, and their sound management is critical for human and ecosystem health and well-being. Efforts to manage forests depend upon reliable data on the status of and trends in forest resources. When these data come from well-designed natural resource monito...
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doaj-0219d8342e05464f9b9ac29450b60bfc2020-12-20T00:00:18ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072020-12-01111364136410.3390/f11121364Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest InventoryAndrew J. Lister0Hans Andersen1Tracey Frescino2Demetrios Gatziolis3Sean Healey4Linda S. Heath5Greg C. Liknes6Ronald McRoberts7Gretchen G. Moisen8Mark Nelson9Rachel Riemann10Karen Schleeweis11Todd A. Schroeder12James Westfall13B. Tyler Wilson14USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR 97205, USAUSDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, UT 84401, USAUSDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR 97205, USAUSDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, UT 84401, USAUSDA Forest Service, Washington Office, Washington, DC 20250, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, UT 84401, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, UT 84401, USAUSDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Knoxville, TN 37919, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, York, PA 27410, USAGlobally, forests are a crucial natural resource, and their sound management is critical for human and ecosystem health and well-being. Efforts to manage forests depend upon reliable data on the status of and trends in forest resources. When these data come from well-designed natural resource monitoring (NRM) systems, decision makers can make science-informed decisions. National forest inventories (NFIs) are a cornerstone of NRM systems, but requires capacity and skills to implement. Efficiencies can be gained by incorporating auxiliary information derived from remote sensing (RS) into ground-based forest inventories. However, it can be difficult for countries embarking on NFI development to choose among the various RS integration options, and to develop a harmonized vision of how NFI and RS data can work together to meet monitoring needs. The NFI of the United States, which has been conducted by the USDA Forest Service’s (USFS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program for nearly a century, uses RS technology extensively. Here we review the history of the use of RS in FIA, beginning with general background on NFI, FIA, and sampling statistics, followed by a description of the evolution of RS technology usage, beginning with paper aerial photography and ending with present day applications and future directions. The goal of this review is to offer FIA’s experience with NFI-RS integration as a case study for other countries wishing to improve the efficiency of their NFI programs.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/12/1364national forest inventoryforest monitoringremote sensingforest samplinginventory efficiencyForest Inventory and Analysis |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Andrew J. Lister Hans Andersen Tracey Frescino Demetrios Gatziolis Sean Healey Linda S. Heath Greg C. Liknes Ronald McRoberts Gretchen G. Moisen Mark Nelson Rachel Riemann Karen Schleeweis Todd A. Schroeder James Westfall B. Tyler Wilson |
spellingShingle |
Andrew J. Lister Hans Andersen Tracey Frescino Demetrios Gatziolis Sean Healey Linda S. Heath Greg C. Liknes Ronald McRoberts Gretchen G. Moisen Mark Nelson Rachel Riemann Karen Schleeweis Todd A. Schroeder James Westfall B. Tyler Wilson Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory Forests national forest inventory forest monitoring remote sensing forest sampling inventory efficiency Forest Inventory and Analysis |
author_facet |
Andrew J. Lister Hans Andersen Tracey Frescino Demetrios Gatziolis Sean Healey Linda S. Heath Greg C. Liknes Ronald McRoberts Gretchen G. Moisen Mark Nelson Rachel Riemann Karen Schleeweis Todd A. Schroeder James Westfall B. Tyler Wilson |
author_sort |
Andrew J. Lister |
title |
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory |
title_short |
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory |
title_full |
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory |
title_fullStr |
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Efficiency of National Forest Inventories: A Case Study from the United States National Forest Inventory |
title_sort |
use of remote sensing data to improve the efficiency of national forest inventories: a case study from the united states national forest inventory |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Globally, forests are a crucial natural resource, and their sound management is critical for human and ecosystem health and well-being. Efforts to manage forests depend upon reliable data on the status of and trends in forest resources. When these data come from well-designed natural resource monitoring (NRM) systems, decision makers can make science-informed decisions. National forest inventories (NFIs) are a cornerstone of NRM systems, but requires capacity and skills to implement. Efficiencies can be gained by incorporating auxiliary information derived from remote sensing (RS) into ground-based forest inventories. However, it can be difficult for countries embarking on NFI development to choose among the various RS integration options, and to develop a harmonized vision of how NFI and RS data can work together to meet monitoring needs. The NFI of the United States, which has been conducted by the USDA Forest Service’s (USFS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program for nearly a century, uses RS technology extensively. Here we review the history of the use of RS in FIA, beginning with general background on NFI, FIA, and sampling statistics, followed by a description of the evolution of RS technology usage, beginning with paper aerial photography and ending with present day applications and future directions. The goal of this review is to offer FIA’s experience with NFI-RS integration as a case study for other countries wishing to improve the efficiency of their NFI programs. |
topic |
national forest inventory forest monitoring remote sensing forest sampling inventory efficiency Forest Inventory and Analysis |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/12/1364 |
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