Tree field observations within an insect-affected forest collected in 2018 near Elk City, Idaho

This data publication contains tree observations (n = 1,361) made within the Nez Perce National Forest near Elk City, Idaho, in August and September 2018. Trees were measured within 56 circular fixed-radius plots, which had plot radii of 11.3 meters and were 400 square meters in area. Plots were located in areas of insect-caused tree mortality, as indicated by USDA Insect and Disease Detection Survey polygons, to sample a variety of tree mortality agents and severities. These observations were then used to train and evaluate the classification of satellite imagery to map tree mortality. Tabular data include tree species, health, diameter at breast height, crown class, insect mortality agent, beetle attack status, years since death, and location information.
Tree observations were gathered for a project entitled "Assessing newly developed intensity metrics of aerial survey tree disturbance mapping", which was funded by the USDA Forest Service Special Technology Development Program (STDP). The research was accomplished in collaboration with Dr. Arjan Meddens, first at the University of Idaho through Joint Venture Agreement 18-JV-11221633-195 and then at Washington State University through Joint Venture Agreement 19-JV-11221633-189. The goal of this project was to assess the accuracy of USDA Insect and Disease Detection Survey data using satellite imagery.
For more information about these data, see Bright et al. (2020, https://doi.org/10.3390/f11050529).