(This page intentionally left blank) Table of Contents Table of Figures ........................................................................ v Table of Tables ....................................................................... vii Executive Summary ................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................. 2 Region 4 VCMQ Objectives .................................................................... 2 Intended Uses ............................................................................................ 3 Business Needs Requirements ............................................................ 3 General Characteristics of the Area ................................................... 4 Partnerships .............................................................................................. 6 Final Products ........................................................................................... 7 Methods ...................................................................................... 8 Project Planning .................................................................................... 10 Vegetation Classification Development ......................................... 10 Vegetation Type Map Units .............................................................................. 11 Structural Characteristics................................................................................. 11 Tree Size Class .......................................................................................................................... 12 Tree and Shrub Canopy Cover Class ................................................................................. 13 Geospatial Data Acquisition and Processing ............................... 13 Imagery ................................................................................................................... 14 Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and Topographic Derivatives ......... 14 IfSAR Data............................................................................................................... 15 Segmentation ......................................................................................... 15 Reference Data Collection .................................................................. 17 Legacy Vegetation Plot Data ................................................................................................ 17 i Newly Collected Field Reference Data ............................................................................. 19 Photo Interpretation .............................................................................................................. 20 Modeling .................................................................................................. 20 Vegetation Type Map ............................................................................................................. 21 Canopy Cover Map ................................................................................................................... 23 Tree Size Map ............................................................................................................................ 23 Draft Map Review and Revision ...................................................................... 24 Final Map Development .................................................................................... 24 Map Products ......................................................................... 26 Vegetation Type and Group ............................................................... 26 Tree and Shrub Canopy Cover .......................................................... 28 Tree Size ................................................................................................... 29 Accuracy Assessment ........................................................... 30 Use of Reference Data Sets for Accuracy Assessments ............. 30 Use of Map Products ............................................................................. 32 Accuracy Assessment Design ............................................................ 32 Quantitative Inventory ...................................................................................... 33 Phase 2 FIA Base-level Inventory ...................................................................................... 33 Forest Lands ......................................................................................................................................................... 33 All Condition Inventory ................................................................................................................................... 34 Methods .................................................................................................... 34 Data Preparation and Classification ............................................................. 35 Non-Site-Specific Accuracy Assessment....................................................... 36 Stratification for Area Estimates ....................................................................................... 37 Site-Specific Accuracy Assessment ................................................................ 39 Results ...................................................................................................... 40 Non-Site-Specific Accuracy Assessment....................................................... 40 Area Estimates Based on Inventory Plots ....................................................................... 40 Vegetation Group Area Estimates ............................................................................................................... 40 ii Vegetation Type Area Estimates .................................................................................................................. 41 Tree Size Class Area Estimates ..................................................................................................................... 43 Canopy Cover Class Area Estimates ........................................................................................................... 43 Comparisons of Mapped to Inventory Area Estimates ............................................... 45 Vegetation Group Comparisons ................................................................................................................... 45 Confidence Interval (95 Percent Standard Error) for Vegetation Groups .................................. 47 Vegetation Type Comparisons ...................................................................................................................... 49 Confidence Interval (95 Percent Standard Error) for Vegetation Types .................................... 52 Tree Size Class Comparisons ......................................................................................................................... 54 Confidence Interval (95 Percent Standard Error) for Tree Size Class ......................................... 56 Tree Canopy Cover Comparisons ................................................................................................................ 57 Shrub Canopy Cover Comparisons.............................................................................................................. 61 Confidence Interval (95 Percent Standard Error) for Canopy Cover Class ................................ 63 Site-Specific Accuracy Assessment ................................................................ 65 Error Matrix .............................................................................................................................. 65 Vegetation Group Accuracies .............................................................................................. 67 Vegetation Type Accuracies ................................................................................................ 69 Tree Size Class Accuracies.................................................................................................... 71 Canopy Cover Class Accuracies .......................................................................................... 74 Conclusions for Accuracy Assessment ........................................... 78 Project Data Files .................................................................. 79 Feature Class and Layer Files ............................................................ 79 Ancillary and Intermediate Data ..................................................... 79 Conclusion .............................................................................. 80 References .............................................................................. 81 Appendices ............................................................................ A-1 Appendix A: Acquired Geospatial Data for Mapping ................ A-1 Appendix B: Vegetation Indices, Transformations, and Topographic Derivatives ................................................................... B-1 iii Appendix C: Existing Vegetation Keys .......................................... C-1 Appendix D: Field Reference Data Collection Guide and Protocols .................................................................................................D-1 Appendix E: eCognition Layer Weights ......................................... E-1 Appendix F: Tree Canopy Cover Photo-Interpretation Assessment ...........................................................................................