Interfacing an aggregate wood supply model with a geographic information system

Abstract

By developing a general interface between forest planning models and geographic information systems, the forest planner is capable of spatially analyzing the results of wood supply analysis. The planner can change the results of the wood supply analysis by incorporating spatial constraints in the actual scheduling of stands for harvest. The effects of these changes can then be examined by inputting the changed data into the wood supply analysis. This thesis reports on an interface developed as part of a forest management information system to spatially represent the results of a non-spatial wood supply model. The interface was developed to assist in the aggregation of the forest stands into forest units, and upon completion of running the wood supply model, enable the disaggregation of the forest units back into individual stands. It was also developed to assist in mapping of the stands to be treated and the scheduling of individual stands for treatment. In this study, the FORMAN wood supply model and the ARC/INFO geographic information system were used. The interface was tested for: 1) the extent to which it assisted managers in the planning process; 2) whether it provided new information to the manager; 3) how well the results of the non-spatial wood supply analysis could be checked using the geographic information system; and 4) its ability to feed data back into the wood supply model.