Page 78 - GIS for Science, Volume 3 Preview

DIGITAL INNOVATIONS
We are now designing a system to provide improved access to FIA data and associated analytical skills in an environment where the issue of “plot locations” is moot. Consider a future in which questions could be passed to the data and answers retrieved without exposing the underlying confifdential content (or data). Reaching a broader spectrum of users requires a more powerful and flexible computing environment than existed just a short time ago within the agency. This environment also allows greater use of imagery and remote sensing.
The current inventory program focuses on data collected in the field to generate authoritative estimates of forest attributes (species, woodland density, and so on). Going forward, the FIA program has an opportunity to evolve and estimate other tree attributes that reflect the emergent thinking about forests, such as ecosystem services (e.g., wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration). This effort will produce a more valuable version of our existing database for users of this information.
Creating useful data products requires translating them into spatial data, or in a nutshell, maps. Tables tend to hide patterns that spatial data can reveal through visualizations. The rapidly progressing fields of data visualization and digital geographic analysis tools provide FIA with easy-to-use solutions that help identify meaningful information from voluminous datasets. For example, interactive maps published in the cloud allow FIA to share data packaged with appropriate analytic tools that allow things such as summarization on the fly, simplifying an otherwise complicated estimation.
Cloud and GIS technology advancements allowed the FIA program to convert data publication tools and databases into digital data streams and an application programming interface (API). This capability allows the agency and its customers to submit queries from any tool that can write an HTML string, resulting in new public- facing applications that can be built using FIA data in an API-packaged approach. Moving forward, the agency anticipates internal and collaborative application development using the API with a future app store to distribute agency and partner content focused on specific needs.
Stakeholders in the FIA network.
This website explains the vital importance of US forests to the nation’s physical, men- tal, and economic survival, now and in the future.
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