FAQ
What is Forest Measure?
Forest Measure is a collaborative tool, integrated with Cyber Tracker ™ that streamlines forestry data collection.
Welcome to Forest Measure! With Forest Measure, you enter data on an Android device in the field. As soon as the device connects with your home computer, data are uploaded and you’ve got geoferenced data arranged in spreadsheets. You can collect, share, summarize, and analyze all in a day’s work.
Who is Forest Measure for?
- Foresters
- Academic institutions
- Environmental consultants
- Students
- Citizen scientists
How does Forest Measure work?
With Forest Measure, you enter forestry measurements on an Android device in the field. As soon as the device connects with your home computer, data are uploaded and you’ve got geo-referenced data arranged in spreadsheets. You can review, filter, and edit field data within minutes upon returning to the office. No more days spent deciphering and manually entering field data.
Forest Measure is currently designed for use on Android tablets and smartphones.
The application utilizes free Cybertracker software to compile and report data. CyberTracker was developed to provide an icon-based user interface suitable for non-literate wildlife trackers. It was created in the late 1990s by Louis Liebenberg and Justin Steventon.
Forest Measure is designed for U.S. Forest Service Common Stand Exam protocols but the application can be adapted to most forest monitoring protocols. User-friendly interfaces and help screens make the application accessible for all experience levels.
The standard version of Forest Measure includes the following parameters:
| Site Characterization |
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| Mature Tree Measurements |
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| Regeneration | Seedling and Sampling counts by species. | ||||||||
| Canopy Cover | Embedded densiometer calculations | ||||||||
| SURFACE FUEL LOADING (BROWN’S TRANSECT) | All fuel classes plus litter and duff depth | ||||||||
| PHOTOS | Plot photo capture includes built-in compass |
Custom data collection packages are available. Just let us know what you need!
Where can Forest Measure be used?
Forest Measure can be used wherever a global positioning system (GPS) signal is available. It relies on the GPS embedded in most Android devices. Unlike some iOS systems that register the user’s position based on wi-fi hotspots, Android devices determine position by communicating with satelites. As a result, accurate location information is available in remote field locations. Position coordinates are attached to every Forest Measure observation.
Why use Forest Measure?
Hours of data entry time are avoided and data aggregation by large teams becomes possible.
Manual data entry is time consuming and can introduce error into a sampling program. Forest Measure allows efficient field data collection and eliminates data entry. Spreadsheets are created instantaneously as data are collected. Once back in the office, spreadsheets can be filtered and manipulated within the program or exported to other software.
Managing and compiling data from multiple observers can be tricky. Forest Measure allows multiple observers to easily share a central database. Field data collected on tablets can be uploaded automatically over wi-fi or by connecting the tablet to the home computer. Project managers can instantly review data and perform queries. When an anomolous value shows up, it’s easy to investigate. Say a manager sees a tree in the database that is much larger than expected for the site. One click on the entry shows who measured the tree and exactly where it’s located.
- Better quality assurance and control
- No data entry required
- Seamless data sharing by team members
- No waiting for data summaries
- Teams can discuss data sets as soon as they are collected
- All observations are geolocated