Overview

Cruise compilation is a complex topic and is only described here briefly.  Some InventoryManager customers use InventoryManager to export their data to 3rd party software such as TCruise or FVS for compilation. Others use InventoryManager’s in-application merchandiser/compiler, based on the National Volume Estimator Library (see details below). Still others have opted to have WSG implement custom volume equations or volume tables in InventoryManager. Your administrator should provide more detailed information on how your InventoryManager site has been configured, including the species and product groupings, taper equations (e.g., Behre's Hyperbola or Clark Profile), log rules (e.g., Scribner decimal C or International 1/4), ‘dubbing’ methods used to estimate sampled variables such as height or crown ratio, merchandising specifications (including minimum top diameter, trim, stump height, etc.) that are used for your site.

The National Volume Estimator Library section below provides more details about the InventoryManager’s merchandiser.

The Compiling a Cruise section below provides instructions below assume that all of the parameters listed above have been configured and that compilation has been tested and enabled on your production site. It also assumes that valid cruise data have been collected and thus there are stands, plots and trees that are ready to be compiled.

The Compilation Reports section below provides details about the compilation reports that can be generated by InventoryManager including the types of tables that can be produced and calculations that can performed.

Height Estimation (Dubbing)

Profile functions typically require a total tree height measurement. Many foresters do not measure total heights for all trees due to the level of effort that total height measurements can take.

If a species has at least 3 trees with measured tree heights, heights for all other trees for that species will be estimated by fitting the Wykoff (Wykoff, et al. 1982*) equation using ameba function

If a species does not have at least 3 trees with measured tree heights, default coefficients from the FVS User Guide for the relevant region and species are used.

Additional height estimation equations can be added if needed.

*Wykoff, William R., Crookston, Nicholas L., and Stage, Albert R. 1982. User’s guide to the Stand
Prognosis Model. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-133. Ogden, UT: Forest Service, Intermountain
Forest and Range Experiment Station. 112p

Volume Calculations

WSG’s compilation routine supports a range of profile equations and volume tables as described below.

Profile Equations - National Volume Estimator Library

WSG’s compilation routine implements profile equations via the National Volume Estimator Library (NVEL). NVEL is a software library developed and maintained by the US Forest Service. It implements a large number of published taper functions and volume equations. NVEL is used within other applications developed by the US Forest Service, including the Forest Vegetation Simulator https://www.fs.fed.us/fvs/index.shtml and the National Cruise Program https://www.fs.fed.us/forestmanagement/products/measurement/cruising/fscruiser/index.php. It provides tools that allow access to NVEL functions within Excel and R, as well as interfaces to call NVEL functions from software development languages such as Visual Basic and C#. More information about NVEL can be found at https://www.fs.fed.us/forestmanagement/products/measurement/volume/nvel/index.php . InventoryManager includes a custom cloud-hosted implementation of NVEL and uses this to apply default or user-selected equations to merchandize trees and calculate volume. It combines the field-measured values, NVEL taper equations and user-defined merchandising specs to achieve industry standard volume calculations at locations throughout the US. InventoryManager then compiles these tree level data and provides reports at the stand or sale level, allowing for a range of groupings, units, statistics, and report layouts.

Below is the list of Profile Equations included in the National Volume Estimator Library. These can be used in conjunction with the WSG merchandiser to calculate tree volume according to any custom merchandising spec. Equations and merch specs can be applied at the species and/or product level. It is even possible to combine volume tables and equations. For example, it is possible to use a profile function (e.g., Clarke’s profile function) to calculate to calculate topwood in combination with a volume table (e.g., Mesavage & Girard) for saw timber.

1. Behre's Hyperbola (Bell & Dilworth, 1988).

2. Clark Profile model (Clark et al. 1991. Southeastern For Exper Station. Research Paper SE-282).

3. Czaplewski's 2 point profile model (Czaplewski et al 1989. Research Paper RM-284).

4. Czaplewski's 3 point profile model (Unpublished. Based on work presented in Czaplewski & McClure. 1988. Forest Science, Vol. 34, pp. 512 – 522).

5. DeMars and Bruce profile models (Donald Demars. 1996. Pacific Northwest Res. Station Research Note. PNW-RN-517) & (Bruce, D., 1984. Volume estimators for Sitka spruce and western hemlock in coastal Alaska. In Inventorying forest and other vegetation of the high latitude and high altitude regions. SAF pub 84-11. Bethesada, MD. pp. 96-102).

6. Flewelling's 2 point profile model (Unpublished. Based on work presented by Flewelling and Raynes. 1993 Canadian Journal of Forest Research Vol 23. Part I and Part II).

7. Flewelling's 3 point profile model (Unpublished. Based on work presented by Flewelling and Raynes. 1993 Canadian Journal of Forest Research Vol 23. Part I and Part II).

8. Rastagi and Loveless profile model (Rustagi, K.R. and Loveless, R.S.,Jr., 1991. Compatible variable-form volume and stem-profile equations for Douglas-fir. Can. J. For. Res. 21:143-151).

9. Sharpnack's 2 point profile model (Sharpnack, David A. 1966. Predicting Volumes in Four Hawaii Hardwoods. Southwest Forest and Range Research Station Research Note SW-121)

10. Wensel and Olsen 2 point profile model (Wensel, L. C. and C. M. Olson. 1993. Tree Taper Models for Major Commercial California Conifers. Research Note No. 33. Northern Calif. Forest Yield Cooperative. Dept. of Forestry and Mgmt., Univ. of Calif., Berkeley. 28 pp.)

Volume Tables

In addition to the profile equations described above, the compiler supports several volume tables. Volume tables generally provide volume based on tree diameter and merch height and use either board feet or cubic feet. The list below includes the currently supported volume tables. Additional volume tables can be added if needed.

• Mesavage and Girard Volume Tables

  • Scribner, Doyle and International 1/4” tables (Mesavage, C., and J. W. Girard. 1946. Tables for estimating board-foot volumei of timber. USDA Forest Servicei, Washington, DC. 94p)

  • Implemented via equations from Wiant 1986 (Wiant, Jr. H. V. 1986. Formulas for Mesavage and Girard's volume tables. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry 3(3)124.)

• Minor’s Pulpwood Tables

  • Minor, Charles Oscar, "Form class volume tables for use in southern pine pulpwood timber estimating" (1950). LSU Agricultural Experiment Station Reports. 185.

Compiling A Cruise

The standard process for compiling a cruise is:

• Use the Map page in InventoryManager to select Stands and initiate compilation.

  • Use the Search tool on the Actions Panel to select one or more Stands

    • Note that some implementations may only support compilation of a single stand at one time

  • Use the Compile tool on the Actions Panel, select the report to create from the dropdown list of available reports (if present - some implementations may have only 1 single report) and click 'Compile'.

  • Open

    

     

• Review all stands and trees.

  • The Data Review tool will open in a new tab and will be populated with a list of Stands that were selected via Search tool.

  • Select a Stand from the dropdown list or by using the next and previous arrow icons.

  • When a Stand is selected all trees in that stand will be displayed in an interactive table.

  • The fields displayed in the tree list are controlled by the compilation configuration and can be adjusted by your site administrator. Typically a single volume field (e.g., Boardfoot merchantable volume in Scribner C format)

  • Review and edit tree records as needed.

    • Trees can be edited using the pencil icon to begin editing.

    • Trees can be deleted using the trash can icon.

    • Trees can be added using the + icon.

    • Trees can be sorted as needed to display results according species, product, volume, etc.

    • Open

      

      Trees can be exported to a CSV file by clicking the ‘Export Trees’ button below the trees table

• Compile cruise.

  • When trees have been verified (and/or edited), click 'Compile Report' to compile the cruise and generate the report.

  • The compilation report will be displayed in an overlay and will include a range of tables where compilation results are presented

  • Print report - use the ‘Print Report’ button to use the browser capabilties to print the report. Note that it may be necessary to switch to lanscape mode if one or more of the report tables is too wide to be printed in portrait mode

  • Generate PDF - use the ‘Print Report’ button but then select 'Save as PDF' and follow instructions such as selecting the pages, layout and filename.

Compilation Reports

There are 5 standard tables included in the compilation capabilities in InventoryManager. These tables can be excluded or repeated in any report. For example, a given report might not include a Summary Table but might include 2 Details Tables, one for live trees and another for dead trees.

Header Table

• The header table displays metadata such as date the report was generated, the region, area or project that helps to define the inventory

Stand 1-Liner

• Stand 1-Liner tables present a single row (1 line) for each cruise stand. They can include any number of metrics but commonly display acres, volume per acre, total volume, etc.

Sale / Project Table

• Sale / Project Tables are similar to Stand 1-Liner tables, but they aggregate all stands into a single row (1 line) that includes aggregated (e.g., summed) values for all stands in the Sale or Project. Like Stand 1-Liners, this Sale / Project Tables can include any number of metrics but commonly display acres, volume per acre, total volume, etc.

Summary Table

• Summary tables typically organize tree data into columns by broad size classes and then calculate a range of metrics as rows. This table type is used when several different metrics are needed on each size class. When fewer metrics are desired (e.g., 1-3), consider using a Details Table (see below)

Details Table

• Details tables typically organize tree data into rows based on species, species + product, or species + product + live/dead status and then calculate a range of metrics (e.g., volume, TPA, BA) for different size categories. In the example below trees are grouped into rows by species, and TPA and Volume are calculated by 4” size classes, with totals by species in the rightmost columns

Calculations

The table below describes the calculations that are currently supported in the compilation tables described above. Additional calculations can typically be supported but would typically be handled via a feature request.