Hello,
Contest website: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/fia/spatial/interp/ Details on the
conference are at bottom of this email.
To clarify on a few questions I've received about the interpolation contest
idea, yes, the abstract submission deadline is the end of June, but don't
worry about submitting a "placeholder" abstract that describes in general
the approach you will take, and saying "results will be discussed". We're a
fairly informal bunch, and welcome your participation. The conference has a
proceedings which will probably require your paper to be submitted by
December or January. So if you would like to participate, send in an
abstract that best describes what you will do. Once we get the abstracts,
and see how many are interested in the idea, I'll contact those who
expressed interest, and we can go from there. You have until October to
actually do the research.
If you don't have access to or interest in using GIS, the datafile (.txt) is
provided with the gis data such that you can plot the coordinates in your
software of choice. Or, if you really want to particpate and just can't
make a map, I think it would be ok to just have text results. The goal of
this whole thing is to discuss the issues associated with spatial modeling
of forestry data that is like the data we collect on our inventory plots.
Finally, the zero values in the plot dataset are values where there were no
trees, i.e., nonforest areas (or areas without trees that met that diameter
requirements (seedlings)). There are probably some outliers in there (I
noticed that some of the "relative basal area values" that should sum to 1
don't sum to 1 or nearly 1 (e.g., there are a couple that sum to .82 or
.81). This is a bit odd, but I thought I'd leave them in so that users could
show how they might decide to include or exclude points like this.
REMEMBER, WE'RE MODELING TOTAL BASAL AREA (BA_TO), for the contest, but feel
free to experiment with other things as well, (e.g., ba of conifers vs.
hardwoods, ba of a specific genus, etc.) Anything that will address the
general goal. But the specific goal is total basal area.
If you think the idea is of sufficient quality, it would be very instructive
to have a web-based contest modeled on this (which was kind of modeled on
the previous web-based contest on the ai-geostats site!) using these data.
After we get the abstracts, I'll contact those who expressed interest.
Feel free to contact me with any questions (contact info below).
3rd Announcement and Last Call for Papers
7th Annual Forest Inventory and Analysis Symposium
3-6 October 2005
Portland, Maine, USA
The 7th Annual Forest Inventory and Analysis Symposium will convene on
Monday, October 3, 2005, at the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland, Maine, USA.
The 2005 Symposium will emphasize international contributions and
collaborations and will include keynote and invited speakers from Canada,
Europe, and other countries. Information is posted on the meeting website:
http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/4801/regional-programs/Inventory/meetings/symposia/default.asp
Program: The meeting will include keynote speakers, invited paper sessions,
and contributed paper sessions. Presentation topics include sampling,
modeling, estimation, remote sensing, mapping, ecological analyses, forest
health, sustainable forest management, and analytical reporting.
Abstracts for contributed papers on these and other relevant topics are
solicited and may be submitted until June 30, 2005, to:
Ronald E. McRoberts
USDA Forest Service
1992 Folwell Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55038 USA
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Abstract submissions by e-mail are preferred.
Accommodations: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Eastland Hotel
(http://www.eastlandpark.com/) at the rate of $98 per night. Hotel
reservations should be made directly with the hotel:
Eastland Hotel
157 High Street
Portland, Maine 04101 USA
Tel: 207-775-2872
888-671-8008 (toll free: US and Canada)
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Information on other area hotels will be posted on the meeting website.
Travel: The Portland, Maine, airport accommodates international flights.
Boston, Massachusetts, is about 110 miles south of Portland, and ground
transportation (automobile, train, bus) may be arranged easily from Boston
to Portland. For travelers wishing to avoid Boston, the Manchester, New
Hampshire, airport is an alternative and is about 75 miles southwest of
Portland.
Registration fee: The registration fee covers a reception the first
evening; breakfast, lunch, and breaks each day; the harbor cruise and
lobster bake social; and the proceedings.
On or before 01 August: $325.00
After 01 August: $400.00
Student: $225.00
See the registration form available at the website for details.
Proceedings: A symposium proceedings will be published with papers due
after the meeting.
Invited Speakers:
Dr. Steen Magnussen, Canadian Forest Service, Canada
Prof. Erkki Tomppo, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Finland
Dr. Paul C. Van Deusen, National Council on Air and Stream Improvement,
USA
Dr. Håkan Olsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Prof. George Gertner, University of Illinois, USA
Dr. Lloyd Irland, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, USA
Dr. Warren Cohen, USDA Forest Service, USA
Prof. Russell Congalton, University of New Hampshire, USA
Dr. Mike Wulder, Canadian Forest Service, Canada
Prof. Christoph Kleinn, University of Goettingen, Germany
Dr. Anna Ringvall, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Dr. James Flewelling, Forest biometrics consultant, USA
Dr. Nicholas Crookston, USDA Forest Service, USA
Dr. John Shaw, USDA Forest Service, USA
Dr. Annemarie Bastrup-Birk, European Commission, Joint Research Centre,
Italy
Dr. Klemens Schadauer, Head of the Institute for Forest Inventory, Austria
Dr. Claude Vidal, Director, National Forest Inventory, France
Andy
***************************************************************
Andrew J. Lister
Research Forester
USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station
Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit
11 Campus Blvd, Suite 200
Newtown Square, PA 19073
(610) 557-4038
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/fia
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