Analytical alternatives for an Annual Inventory System

Abstract

Methods for analyzing data from the Southern Annual Forest Inventory System (SAFIS) are discussed. Differences between the annual inventory approach and the more traditional periodic approach require that we revisit the previous assumption that there are no important spatial and temporal trends in the data. Over the next few years, the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station will be evaluating models of varying complexity to determine the most efficient estimation approach for each variable, at all spatiotemporal scales of interest.