Annual forest inventories for the north central region of the United States

The primary objective in developing procedures for annual forest inventories for the north central region of the United States is to establish the capability of producing standard forest inventory and analysis estimates on an annual basis. The inventory system developed to accomplish this objective features several primary functions, including (1) an annual sample of measured field plots, (2) satellite-based remote sensing for stratification into land use and land use change classifications, (3) a database of current and past plot and tree information, and (4) models for predicting the growth and survival of trees not measured in the current year. The discussion focuses on specific features and options for each function.