InventoryManager: Post-Cruise Stratification
- Kerry Halligan
Overview
Sometimes stand boundaries need to be changed after a cruise has been competed. Possible reasons for this include:
The original stand boundary does match the observed stand boundary
There is a clear difference in management history for different parts of the stand (e.g., one half of the stand was thinned but the other was not, or one have of the stand was 10 years older than the other half)
There is a clear difference in species composition for different parts of the stand (e.g., one half of the stand was conifers and the other mixed hardwoods)
A portion of the stand is non-forested and those acres should be removed from the stand
In these scenarios, it is necessary to edit the Stand boundaries AND update the cruise plots to ensure that they are associated with the new Stand boundaries. In some cases plots may end up outside of the Stand (e.g., in a non-forested donut hole that is created). in other cases plots will now be in newly created Stands that are produced by splitting the original Stand into 2 or more Stands.
Steps
There are 3 main steps to post-cruise stratification:
Review available information
Update Stand boundaries
Validate plots
Review available information
There are several ways that foresters record information in the field to support post-cruise stratification. The most common are:
Collecting line features in MobileMap via GPS tracking or heads-up digitizing
Recording notes on which plots fall into the proposed new Stands
If collecting line features in MobileMap, make sure that the appropriate layer is visible on your Map in InventoryManager. If it is present on the map, but not displayed, click the eye icon to toggle visibility to on. If you do not see it listed in the map legend, talk to your administrator and ask that this layer be added to the map.
Update Stand Boundaries
While Stand boundaries can be updated in MobileMap for most users, we strongly recommend that InventoryManager be used to update Stand Boundaries. This is because it is typically easier to use InventoryManager’s tools, the larger and brighter screen, and additional flexibility in base maps when editing Stand boundaries.
Once all data have been uploaded from MobileMap, Stand boundaries can be edited using standard feature editing tools InventoryManager: Feature Editing in InventoryManager. The main tools used are splitting with a line, or cutting a donut hole.
Cutting/Splitting Stands
See Cut a Shape for additional documentation on this process
In the example below, a cruised Stand was found in the field to have two distinct management histories and thus there is a need to split the stand. The user wishes to split the Stand along the road the separates the Northwest portion of the Stand from the rest of the Stand.
To complete this process, first (1) enable draw edits on the Stands layer by clicking the pencil icon on the map legend. (2) Next, select the line tool on the map editing tools that appear on the upper left portion of the map. (3) Next, begin digitizing a split line by starting just outside of the stand, and (4) click to add vertices at every bend in the road. Next, add the final vertex just outside of the opposite Stand boundary, (5) then double click to complete the line.
Once the split line has been completed, it will be displayed as a blue line on the map (6). Apply the split line by clicking ‘Submit’ (7).
When the Submit button is pressed, InventoryManager will split the Stand into two Stands, then highlight the newly created Stand (8). This new Stand will have a unique values for the OBJECTID and Unique_ID fields, and the correct Acres. All other attributes will be identical to the original Stand, including the Stand_ID. To address this issue edit the attributes for the new Stand and update the Stand_ID. To do this, first click on the Edit Attributes (paper and pencil icon) button (9). Next, enter a new Stand_ID value (10). Optionally, update additional attribute values. Finally, click the Save (disk icon) button to save the updates (11).
At this point, you have completed the second step in the process ‘Update Stand boundaries’. If additional changes are needed, repeat this step to further divide any of the resulting Stands into additional Stands. When all stands have been split, toggle map drawing edits off by clicking the pencil icon next to Stands in the map legend. The icon should turn grey to indicate that editing is disabled.
Validate Plots
The final step of the process is to re-assign plots from the original Stand to this newly created Stand. This process is known as plot validation. For each newly created stand, click on the stand to select it (it should be highlighted in yellow), then click the ‘Validate’ tab (12) in the upper left corner of InventoryManager, then click ‘Validate Plots’ (13). InventoryManager will update all Plots within the selected Stand’s boundary to update their Stand_ID and Parent_ID fields. This will let InventoryManager (and MobileMap) know that these Plots are associated with this newly created Stand. The results will be displayed below the Validate Plots button and will indicate the number of Plots that were found that needed to be updated, and the details on the changes made.
Cutting Donut Holes in Stands
See Cut a Donut Hole for additional documentation on this process.
In the example above, one plot was skipped in the field because it lay in a large forest opening. If the goal is to remove this area (shape and acreage) from its parent stand, then InventoryManager can be used to cut a donut hole in that stand. It can be useful to note the Stand acres prior to cutting a donut hole, in order to confirm the updated acres after the edit.
To cut a donut hole in a stand, first select the stand by clicking on it (when selected it should have a yellow highlight). Next enable vertex editing on the Stand clicking the vertex editing icon (1) above the Stand attributes. (2) Next, select the polygon tool on the map editing tools that appear on the upper left portion of the map. (3) Next, begin digitizing a polygon by clicking at one point along the donut hole boundary, and then (4) click to add vertices at every bend in the donut hole. To complete the donut hole, click the double click (or click the initial vertex).
Once the donut hole has been digitized, it will be displayed as a blue polgyon on the map (6). Next, click ‘Cut shape’ (7) to inform InventoryManager of the desired action.
Once ‘Cut shape’ has been clicked, the boundary of the Stand, including the proposed donut hole, are shown in solid yellow outline (8). To save the change, click the Save (disk icon) button on the Stand attribute panel.
The edit information for the last edit will be displayed in the Stands attribute panel. Note the updated acres to confirm that this matches expectations. In this example the acreage dropped from 158.4 to 155.77 which is consistent with the size of the donut hole that was created (2.6 acres). If additional donut holes need to be created, repeat the process described above.
Since no new Stands are created, it is not necessary to use the Validate tool to re-assign Plots. Plots in the donut holes, however, will still be assigned to their parent (containing) Stand. Since the acreage of the donut hole has been removed, it is typically desirable to delete the plots that are in donut holes, as these plots no longer represent the forested acreage of the Stand.
To delete the plots do the following:
Use the Search tab (11) to select Plots as the Search layer (12). Next, click on the Plot to be deleted (13). Finally, click the delete (trash can icon) button to delete the plot.
You will be asked to confirm the delete. If trees were recorded for this plot, the form will indicate that all trees will be deleted as well. Click ‘Confirm’ to continue.
The map will update to show that the Plot has been removed. Repeat as necessary to remove additional plots.
If a large number of plots need to be removed, it is possible to use the Polygon or Rectangle tool to select multiple Plots and perform a batch delete operation.
Viewing Changes in MobileMap
If users need to view the changes made post-cruise stratification in MobileMap, they will need to refresh MobileMap’s offline data in . To do this, follow the steps below:
MobileMap 4.x
Connect to Wi-Fi
Upload any modified data (Actions > Upload Features)
Reinitialize (Actions > Reinitialize Database)
Download (Actions > Download)
MobileMap 5.x
Connect to Wi-Fi
Upload any modified data (Actions > Upload Features)
Download (Actions > Download)