Thursday, August 9, 2007

PS 69-203: Visualize and analyze US forest inventory data with GForest

Paul C. Van Deusen and Michael Spinney. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement

Gforest is an online tool that enables quick and easy visualization and analysis of US forest inventory data. The Google Maps based interface allows the user to select an area of interest and display USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis plots. Each plot has a 2- and 3 dimensional visualization that illustrates the location, size and species of each tree. Plots can be filtered to include only the variables of interest, where you can specify stand size, stand origin, forest type or productivity, ownership, and measurement year. Sophisticated statistical analyses (tables, charts, maps) can be performed on the selected plots.

Access Gforest at http://ncasi.uml.edu/google/