Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications
One of the greatest challenges for land managers is to maintain a multitude of ecosystem services while reducing hazards posed by wildfires, insect outbreaks, and other disturbances accelerating due to climate change. In response to limited available resources and improved technical abilities, natur...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5ee0 |
| _version_ | 1797747019214749696 |
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| author | Arjan J H Meddens Michelle M Steen-Adams Andrew T Hudak Francisco Mauro Paige M Byassee Jacob Strunk |
| author_facet | Arjan J H Meddens Michelle M Steen-Adams Andrew T Hudak Francisco Mauro Paige M Byassee Jacob Strunk |
| author_sort | Arjan J H Meddens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One of the greatest challenges for land managers is to maintain a multitude of ecosystem services while reducing hazards posed by wildfires, insect outbreaks, and other disturbances accelerating due to climate change. In response to limited available resources and improved technical abilities, natural resource managers are increasingly using geospatial data to plan and evaluate their management actions. Large amounts of public resources are invested in research and development to improve geospatial datasets, yet there is limited knowledge about the specific data types and data characteristics that clients (e.g. land managers) prefer. Our overall objective was to investigate what geospatial data characteristics are preferred by natural resource professionals to monitor and manage forests and fuels across large landscapes. We performed an online survey and collected supplemental data at a subsequent workshop during the 2020 Operational Lidar Inventory meeting to investigate preferred data use and data characteristics of data users of the Pacific Northwest. Our online survey was completed by 69 respondents represented by managers and natural resource professionals from tribal/state, federal, academic, and industry/consulting entities. We found that metrics related to species composition, total biomass/timber volume, and vegetation height were the most preferred attributes, yet preference differed slightly by employment type. From the workshop we found that metric preferences depend upon which management priorities are central to the management application. There was preference for data with Landsat pixel-level (30 m) spatial resolution, annual temporal resolution, and at regional spatial extents. To maintain viable ecosystem services in the long term, it is important to understand the metrics and their data characteristics that are most useful. We conclude that our study is a useful way to understand (a) how to improve the data utility for the users (clients) and (b) the development and investment needs for the data developers and funders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79160a6a6cf745cc8adf16506c656795 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-79160a6a6cf745cc8adf16506c6567952023-08-09T15:27:22ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117404502510.1088/1748-9326/ac5ee0Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applicationsArjan J H Meddens0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6864-6068Michelle M Steen-Adams1Andrew T Hudak2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7480-1458Francisco Mauro3Paige M Byassee4Jacob Strunk5School of the Environment, Washington State University , PO Box 642812, Pullman, WA 99164, United States of AmericaSchool of the Environment, Washington State University , Vancouver, WA, United States of AmericaRocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service , Moscow, ID, United States of AmericaForest Biometrics and Measurements Laboratory, Department Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, Oregon State University , Corvallis, OR, United States of AmericaSchool of the Environment, Washington State University , PO Box 642812, Pullman, WA 99164, United States of AmericaPacific Northwest Research Station, US Forest Service , Olympia, WA, United States of AmericaOne of the greatest challenges for land managers is to maintain a multitude of ecosystem services while reducing hazards posed by wildfires, insect outbreaks, and other disturbances accelerating due to climate change. In response to limited available resources and improved technical abilities, natural resource managers are increasingly using geospatial data to plan and evaluate their management actions. Large amounts of public resources are invested in research and development to improve geospatial datasets, yet there is limited knowledge about the specific data types and data characteristics that clients (e.g. land managers) prefer. Our overall objective was to investigate what geospatial data characteristics are preferred by natural resource professionals to monitor and manage forests and fuels across large landscapes. We performed an online survey and collected supplemental data at a subsequent workshop during the 2020 Operational Lidar Inventory meeting to investigate preferred data use and data characteristics of data users of the Pacific Northwest. Our online survey was completed by 69 respondents represented by managers and natural resource professionals from tribal/state, federal, academic, and industry/consulting entities. We found that metrics related to species composition, total biomass/timber volume, and vegetation height were the most preferred attributes, yet preference differed slightly by employment type. From the workshop we found that metric preferences depend upon which management priorities are central to the management application. There was preference for data with Landsat pixel-level (30 m) spatial resolution, annual temporal resolution, and at regional spatial extents. To maintain viable ecosystem services in the long term, it is important to understand the metrics and their data characteristics that are most useful. We conclude that our study is a useful way to understand (a) how to improve the data utility for the users (clients) and (b) the development and investment needs for the data developers and funders.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5ee0natural resource professionalsremote sensingonline surveyworkshopgeospatial data characteristicslandscape management |
| spellingShingle | Arjan J H Meddens Michelle M Steen-Adams Andrew T Hudak Francisco Mauro Paige M Byassee Jacob Strunk Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications Environmental Research Letters natural resource professionals remote sensing online survey workshop geospatial data characteristics landscape management |
| title | Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| title_full | Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| title_fullStr | Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| title_short | Specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| title_sort | specifying geospatial data product characteristics for forest and fuel management applications |
| topic | natural resource professionals remote sensing online survey workshop geospatial data characteristics landscape management |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5ee0 |
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