Our staff works in partnership with the USDA Forest Service to provide operations
research to develop and apply problem-solving techniques and methods to improve the
storage and display of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and thus enhance
decision-making and efficiency within the FIA program. We collaborate with FIA staff
on a variety of data management and data delivery system projects and co-tasks in
support of forestry models and tools, including in the following areas:
Below is a brief introduction to the primary projects we are involved in.
| Short Name | Full Project Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| BIGMAP | BIGMAP Tree Species Aboveground Forest Biomass Layers | BIGMAP is a cloud-based, national scale, modeling, mapping, and analysis environment. It uses a spatially enabled database to generate estimates for total aboveground biomass for a selection of individual tree species at a 30-meter pixel spatial resolution based on FIA inventory data. |
| BOSS | Business Operations Support System | BOSS streamlines business operations, equipment, and resource management for employees, and also monitors their training. It serves as a comprehensive solution for managers, eliminating the need to rely on spreadsheets for these tasks. |
| DRACT | Data Request Agreement and Contract Tracking | The DRACT tool was originally developed for the Pacific Northwest Research Station and then expanded for use by the Southern Research Station. It is used to track data transfer agreements. |
| FIA Spatial | FIA Spatial Database | The FIA Spatial Database stores spatial attributes about FIA plots and data. It makes FIA maps and spatial data publicly available through the FIA Geospatial Showcase. |
| FIA4FSVeg | FIA Data for Field Sampled Vegetation | The purpose of the FIA4FSVeg project is to extract data from source FIA databases and make the data available for loading into the Natural Resource Manager (NRM) Field Sampled Vegetation (FSVeg) database. |
| FIADB | Forest Inventory and Analysis Database | FIADB represents FIA’s publicly available presentation database. It stores data for the FIA program’s Nationwide Forest Inventory (NFI), including land use information collected on all plots along with additional site and tree data collected on plot areas where forest land use is present. It also stores information on down woody material, soils, and understory vegetation collected on a subset of plots. |
| FIADB-API/EVALIDator 2.x | FIADB Application Programming Interface / EVALIDator 2.x | FIADB-API provides an application programming interface (API) between FIADB and the EVALIDator 2.x frontend. EVALIDator 2.x is a publicly available web application that simplifies the generation of population estimates and associated sampling errors based on the most current NFI data in FIADB. |
| FICS | FIA Integrated Compilation System | FICS is a cross-platform library system designed to improve and streamline the storage, maintenance, and sharing of FIA compilation models. It allows for a single, simplified method to access and use those compilation models by multiple in-house applications and tools, and by outside clients and consumers. |
| FIESTA | Forest Inventory ESTimation and Analysis | FIESTA is a research estimation tool developed for analysts who work with sample-based FIA inventory data. It can generate FIA’s traditional state-wide estimates while also accommodating unique population boundaries, different evaluation time periods, and customized stratification schemes. |
| Issue Tracker (RMRS) | Issue Tracker | The Issue Tracker is a tool used by the Rocky Mountain Research Station to track projects, including project metadata such as schedule, milestones, team rosters, stakeholders, communications, etc. |
| Maestro classic | Maestro (NIMS Portal System) | Maestro is a web-based tool used to upload post-field processed and quality assured data into the NIMS-CS, FIADB, and NRUM databases. It is the legacy system that will eventually be replaced by UMaestro. |
| MIDAS | Mobile Information Data Acquisition System | MIDAS is an integrated web-client-mobile science tool used to collect and process FIA field data. It includes MIDAS Mobile, an application installed on the Portable Data Recorders used by field crews to collect forest inventory data. It also includes MIDAS-Access, a web application used to view the data and changes across the land and forests. |
| MIDAS/NOMS Reconcile Tool | Mobile Information Data Acquisition System/National Ownership Management System Reconcile Tool | This tool is used by FIA data specialists to reconcile MIDAS ownership data with NOMS ownership data, including the addition, deletion, and modification of users. |
| National Change Management | National Operations Change Management Projects | National change management projects utilize a formalized change management process to promote an integrated approach to problem-solving. Phase 1 involves the identification of a problem or consistency requiring a change to resolve; Phase 2 involves problem solving and course of action (COA) analysis; Phase 3 involves implementation of the selected COA; and Phase 4 involves a post-project evaluation. |
| NIMAC | National Inventory and Monitoring Applications Center | As part of the FIA Northern Research Station, NIMAC provides national technical assistance on planning, conducting, processing, and analyzing forest inventories. It is tasked with developing monitoring methods and tools to assist FIA, U.S. states, State and Private Forestry, NFS, and other organizations to monitor forests such that comparable results are obtained across the landscape. |
| NIMS-CS | National Information Management System - Compilation System | NIMS provides a single national platform for processing and storing annual FIA inventory data. NIMS-CS is used to load, error check, compile, and calculate derived variables. The data are made available to the public through FIADB. |
| NOMS | National Ownership Management System | NOMS is managed by the FIA Information Management and Data Acquisition Bands. It comprises a front-end science tool and a database for the maintenance of single source ownership information necessary to support NWOS operations and researchers. |
| NRUM/TPO | National Resource Use Monitoring Program/Timber Products Output | NRUM generates information to classify FIA’s NFI tree removal estimates and understand the utilization of industrial roundwood supporting wood product markets. It includes the Timber Products Output (TPO) data collection effort, which surveys active primary wood processing mills to gather information on mill location; volume received by roundwood product, species, and geographic origin; and mill residue byproduct generation and use. The resulting data provide estimates of industrial and non-industrial roundwood uses. |
| NVCS | National Vegetation Classification System | The goal of the NVCS project is to promote uniform statistics about vegetation resources across the nation by expanding the development of computerized and narrative National Vegetation Classification keys to include western FIA plots and regions. A new narrative and computerized key is also being created for Alaska. |
| NWOS | National Woodland Owner Survey | The purpose of NWOS is to improve our understanding of private forest owners, including: the number of private forest owners; the reason they own the land; what they have done with their forests in the past; and what they plan to do with their forests in the future. NWOS represents a national initiative to create a single, national, and shared database for the storage and retrieval of plot ownership information. |
| Section 508 Program | National Ops Section 508 Program, or UNLV-FIA Section 508 Program | The objectives of UNLV-FIA's Section 508 program include: (1) administering a training program to educate UNLV employees on the Department of Homeland Security Trusted Training process, Section 508 requirements, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and remediation techniques; (2) implementing a process for creating Section 508 compliant documents; and (3) implementing a management framework to bring products produced by UNLV staff in compliance with Section 508. |
| SOP Development | National Standard Operating Procedures Development | These projects establish and document national standard operating procedures (SOP) for a variety of FIA operations. The purpose of SOP development is to improve the efficiency, quality, and uniformity of routine operations. |
| UMaestro | Universal Maestro | The purpose of the UMaestro project is to develop a web-based front-end tool to enable FIA data processors to load, compile, and publish FIA inventory data. The tool will serve as the front-end for managing NFI data in NIMS, and Urban data in UNIMS. If required, it will also provide front-end support for managing NRUM data. |
| UNIMS Database Development | Urban/Universal National Information Management System (Database) | The original purpose of the UNIMS project was to develop a universal, all-vegetation inventory data storage and processing system to replace or supplement existing databases and compilation, analysis, and data publication tools. It is currently being maintained as a data storage and processing system for Urban FIA data. |
| UNIMS ETL Development | UNIMS Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) Development | The purpose of this project is to use an industry standard ETL product to move data between UNIMS and other data sources, such as MIDAS. |
| Urban Forest Stats | Urban FIADB-API/Urban Forest Statistics (aka Urban EVALIDator) | Urban Forest Stats was developed by the Texas A&M Forest Service through a partnership with USDA Forest Service. The tool provides customized summaries of the estimates produced by Urban FIA data. UNLV provides project management support. |
| Short Name | Full Project Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| BioSum | Bioregional Inventory Originated Simulation Under Management | BioSum was a regional Pacific Northwest Research Station project. Its purpose was to provide simulation-based analytical tools that leverage FIA data to predict and summarize the effects of forest management strategies. |
| DATIM | Design and Analysis Toolkit for Inventory and Monitoring | DATIM was developed as a public-facing web analytical and design tool. It included: (1) a design tool, which guided users in determining objectives, questions, metrics, and sample sizes for inventory and monitoring plans; (2) an analysis tool, which enabled users to analyze FIA data to derive estimates of current conditions and trends; and (3) a Spatial Intersection Tool (SIT), which allowed users to add spatial attributes to datasets for use in analyses. |
| QA/QC Check Plot | Quality Assurance/Quality Control Check Plot | Managed by the Pacific Northwest Resource Monitoring and Assessment Program, the QA/QC Check Plot tool was developed to measure the quality of field data collected by contractors as opposed to agency field crews. |
| RMRS Plot Photo Manager | Rocky Mountain Research Station Plot Photo Manager | The RMRS Plot Photo Manager was developed to upload, manage, and retrieve photographs and associated metadata for FIA field photo plots stored in a Large Object data repository. It served as a pilot for a future National Plot Photo Manager. |