IW-FIA Predicted Forest Attribute Maps - 2005

This data publication contains USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program predicted forest attributes and maps created in 2005 for the Interior West (IW) FIA region. Data include maps and modeling results of several forest attributes based on FIA plot data and geospatial predictor layers. Forest attributes include forest cover type, basal area, biomass, crown cover, growth, stand density index, stand age, trees per acre, volume, and weighted height.
Extensive forest inventory data, like those collected by the FIA program, have historically been used to produce estimates of forest population totals over large geographic areas. Recent emphasis has been placed on expanding the traditional uses of these data by merging them with satellite-based information to produce regional maps of forest characteristics for use in a variety of forest management applications. These applications include broad-scale activities like mapping wildlife habitat, assessing resource loss due to fire, identifying lands suitable for timber harvest, and locating areas at high risk for insect and disease outbreaks. A set of 250-meter resolution maps of key forest attributes were developed for the IW-FIA Region. Several forest characteristics, collected on FIA plots as recent as 2004, were modeled as functions of spectral information from MODIS and other ancillary geospatial layers. The predictor variables included elevation, transformed aspect and slope, unclassified spectral data from the MODIS instrument, and a variety of spatial data layers derived from the National Land Cover Dataset. Predictive models of forest attributes were built with See5 and Cubist software, which use tree-like nonparametric models. Predictive performance of the models were evaluated using an independent test set that contained a 10% random selection of the available plots. The maps of predicted forest characteristics were developed with ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine software packages. The version of this dataset is a draft or preliminary product, intended for review by FIA and other interested parties. The release of this dataset is not intended for use beyond these purposes. Future versions of this dataset may be provided with more complete accuracy assessment as well as additional documentation of the modeling and analysis procedures.
Original metadata date was 12/10/2009. Metadata modified on 03/12/2013 to adjust citation to include the addition of a DOI (digital object identifier) and other minor edits. Additional minor edits made on 3/25/2014. Minor metadata updates on 12/20/2016.