Compiler is our new desktop tool for the input, quality control, analysis and reporting of forest inventory (timber cruise) data. See screenshots below to get an idea of how Compiler works.Some features of Compiler are:
The user interface (UI) of Compiler is presented in the "native idiom" of your windowing system. Below you see the screen in the Linux GTK "idiom". Compiler is designed to be intuitive and easy to learn. Moreover, Compiler's "visual terminology" can be easily changed. For example, in your locale, you may prefer the term "Timber Types" rather than "Strata" or "Harvest Units" instead of "Blocks". Compiler's "visual terminolgy" dictionary can be modified to incorporate these changes. Each "data compilation" is considered to be a "job", with its own specific parameters. The parameters that apply to the job as a whole are editable on the "Job" tab, as seen below.  Compiler views the forest as being subdivided according to three independent schemes. The first scheme is the "stratification", used by most foresters to partition the forest into homogeneous sub groups in order to increase precision at a given sampling cost. The "strata" tab is used to define the stratum numbers, short codes and long descriptions. The second scheme is the "treatment units", which permit the use of samples across multiple harvesting profiles - for example, roads and landings, areas to be clear cut, areas to be selectively harvested, areas with seed tree reserves and so forth. The "treatments" tab is used to define the treatment unit numbers, short codes and long descriptions, as well as the harvest profile to be applied to each treatment unit. An example of seed tree harvesting is seen below, where:
 The third scheme is the definition of "harvest units", which form the basis of harvest planning. The "blocks" tab is used to define the block numbers, short codes and long descriptions. Once the definitions of strata, treatments and blocks are complete, the areas for each unique "triple" of stratum / treatment / block are defined on the "areas" tab. Often this information would be generated by a geographic information system. Compiler permits the importing of text files that include this kind of information, in "comma separated value" (CSV) format. Alternatively, other applications can write data in Compiler's open XML format for importing. The "areas" tab user interface is shown below.  The strata are sampled in the field and those field samples are loaded into the system via the "samples" tab. Alternatively, sample information can be imported from CSV files or in Compiler's open XML format. Each sample contains zero or more trees. In Compiler, each tree can be numbered, and must have height, species code and diameter at breast height (DBH) recorded. Age can be provided. Compiler uses taper equations to calculate volume for "quality zones" on each tree, which are described by quality class, height to top of the quality zone, and net recoverable volume. These quality zones are re-merchandised into the grade definitions established by the user elsewhere in Compiler. The "samples" tab user interface is shown below.  The final tab in the user interface is used to define grades. As seen below, each grade can apply to one or more species, and is used to map random "quality zones" recorded into the field into known commercial log grades. Again, taper equations are a key part of this "merchandising" process.  Once all data is entered, reports are generated using the "Reports" menu item at the top of the screen. Current reports include:
Sample reports, as PDF files, are downloadable from the Resources page. |
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