http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell John Bell and Associates Newsletter Latest Articles http://oregonstate.edu/conferences/variableprobability2008/advanced.html This course is designed for those who use and collect stand inventory information. It is particularly well suited for those who have attended the Oregon State University Variable Plot and 3P Sampling Workshop. This is a more in-depth coverage of sampling methods and analysis. We will also cover Critical Increment Sampling a better method for growth determination as well as improved procedures for coping with edge effect. Contact Sierra Whitlow at 541-737-6439 for registration information and John Bell at 541-758-4939 about course content. http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/guest/GPS_Canopy_Tests.pdf I’m a professional timber cruiser, based in the Redwood region of northern California. I wanted to determine the accuracy of GPS data capture at points under varying amounts of forest canopy, using a variety of available GPS receivers, software, accessories, and varying satellite conditions. This series of tests were conducted in an approximately 60-year old stand of mixed Redwood and hardwood trees in the central part of Humboldt County, California. http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/iitt/questionsftf_online8.htm Bill from the BLM posed an interesting question. He did a VP cruise, and the result was not good enough. He wanted a 5% sampling error. He already has too good an answer for VBAR, so what should he do? http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/regular/regular_online5.htm A friend of mine brought up a good point a few days ago.  He wondered if the "walkthrough method" was working well enough.  It’s a good edge effect correction, and an excellent way to properly balance the selection of trees correctly (something half plots and other techniques do not do well). http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/guest/guest_online2.htm The Area-Free method measures the total volume of timber in a polygon when the area is not known.  There are many practical cases where it is not feasible, due to cost or time, to determine the acreage of a timber stand.  Both the usual Variable Plot and Fixed Plot cruise methods require area to calculate volume.  The Area‑Free method offers a solution to the problem of cruising a stand without having to determine its area, and at the same time it exactly corrects for any edge‑effect.  http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/equipment/equip_online1.htm First, it is not a Relascope (or Relaskop), which is a trademark of the Relascope company in Austria. The Laser Tech Company has more recently been calling it a basal area scope or some version of that wording. The Criterion 1000 is an attempt to put the Relascope into an electronic form. I think it falls well short of the mark. http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/guest/guest_online1.htm You hear comments about “production” in the inventory business a lot.  There has to be a “product” in “production” – so what is it?  I would submit that it is NOT the number of plots you installed.  It is not hours worked, or pain and suffering, or the faithfully consistent application of methods that are not helping. http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/iitt/questionsftf_online7.htm A grid is almost always the best way to lay out a given number of plots (you can always create an exception to this rule, but you would be hard pressed to find one in the field). There are very slight advantages to a “triangular” grid vs. a “square grid”, but let’s ignore that for the moment as being too small an issue to bother with. A grid has several advantages of a non-statistical nature to consider. http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/regular/regular_online4.htm There was a recent article in the journal Forest Science that was really useful... The article was about the “Walkthrough Method”. This is one of those happy times when a practical problem produces a practical solution from the forest research community... http://www.proaxis.com/~johnbell/regular/regular_online3.htm  Checking borderlines does take time. A friend in California (Kenny Lucas) was frustrated because he was spending too much time and client money measuring borderline trees. He didn’t think he was missing too many trees, and decided to prove that it was not necessary – not just once, but on an ongoing basis. It’s a great idea, and you might consider it.