National Core Field Guide, Version 3.1 October, 2006 Northern Edition FOREST INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS NATIONAL CORE FIELD GUIDE VOLUME I: FIELD DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES FOR PHASE 2 PLOTS Version 3.1 NORTHERN RESEARCH STATION FOREST SERVICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OCTOBER 2006 National Core Field Guide, Version 3.1 October, 2006 Northern Edition “Anyone who establishes a permanent plot should recognize that he or she hereby assumes responsibility for furnishing workers with a complete picture of conditions on the plot at the time of its establishment. Not only must each plot be properly marked and all measures are in near perfect order, but all notes and records must be complete. Otherwise, the plots may fail to yield the desired results and those who in later years become responsible for their care and for the analysis of the data, may be led to serious mistakes.” [U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 1935.] NRS Note to User: Version 3.1 is a by-product of the merger of the North Central and Northeast FIA units effective October 1, 2006. Data elements and procedures from the previous regional guides may no longer be applicable. Version 3.1 is based on the National Core Field Guide, Version 3.0. All data elements are national unless indicated as follows: • National data elements that end in “+N” (e.g., x.x+N) have added values/codes*. Any additional regional text for a national data element is hi-lighted or shown as a “NRS Note.” • All regional data elements end in “N” (e.g., x.xN). The text for a regional data element is not hi- lighted. • All state specific regional data elements end in “N-XX” (e.g., x.xN-ME). The text for state data element is not hi-lighted. • National data elements or procedures with light gray text are not applicable in the North. * It should be noted that all national data elements with added regional values/codes must be collapsed back to existing national standards by the Information Group unless supported by NIMS. Text in hi-lighted boxes indicates procedural or data elements changes from 3.0 to 3.1 for either former North Central or Northeast crews, or other special instructions that apply to data collection or data processing. Red italicized highlighted text reflects a correction/clarification that has been made since 08/18/2006 -- 1st print release. Please direct questions or comments about this document to: Kathryn M. Tillman Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit USDA Forest Service 11 Campus Blvd., Ste. 200 Newtown Square, PA 19073 (610)557-4053 [email protected] 2 National Core Field Guide, Version 3.1 October, 2006 Northern Edition INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................7 FIELD GUIDE LAYOUT .............................................................................................................................................8 UNITS OF MEASURE................................................................................................................................................9 0.0 GENERAL DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................9 0.1 PLOT SETUP...............................................................................................................................11 0.2 PLOT INTEGRITY........................................................................................................................12 0.3N PLOT DATA SECURITY ..............................................................................................................13 0.4N WILDERNESS AREAS ................................................................................................................13 1.0 PLOT LEVEL DATA....................................................................................................................................17 1.0.1N CYCLE [CYCL] .......................................................................................................................................17 1.0.2N SUB-CYCLE [SUBC] ...................................................................................................................17 1.1 STATE [ST].............................................................................................................................................17 1.1.1N UNIT [UNIT].................................................................................................................................17 1.2 COUNTY [CNTY].........................................................................................................................18 1.3 PLOT NUMBER [PLT#] ..........................................................................................................................18 1.4 PLOT STATUS [STAT] ...........................................................................................................................18 1.5 PLOT NONSAMPLED REASON [REAS] ...............................................................................................18 1.6 SUBPLOTS EXAMINED [EXAM]............................................................................................................19 1.7+N SAMPLE KIND [SK]................................................................................................................................20 1.7.1N PHASE ....................................................................................................................................................21 1.8 PREVIOUS PLOT NUMBER...................................................................................................................21 1.9+N FIELD GUIDE VERSION.........................................................................................................................21 1.10 CURRENT and PREVIOUS DATE..........................................................................................................21 1.10.1+N YEAR [YEAR]..............................................................................................................................21 1.10.2 MONTH [MONT] ..........................................................................................................................22 1.10.3 DAY [DAY]...................................................................................................................................22 1.10.4N PREVIOUS YEAR........................................................................................................................22 1.10.5N PREVIOUS MONTH ....................................................................................................................22 1.11 DECLINATION (CORE OPTIONAL) .......................................................................................................22 1.12 HORIZONTAL DISTANCE TO IMPROVED ROAD [RDIS].....................................................................22 1.13 WATER ON PLOT [WTYP].....................................................................................................................23 1.14 QA STATUS [QAST]...............................................................................................................................23 1.15 CREW TYPE [CRTY]..............................................................................................................................24 1.15.1N CRUISER [CRUI].........................................................................................................................24 1.15.2N TALLIER [TALL] ..........................................................................................................................24 1.15.3N ONE OR TWO PERSON PLOT [CRSZ] ......................................................................................24 1.15.4N PLOT SEASON [SEAS]...............................................................................................................25 1.16 GPS Coordinates ....................................................................................................................................25 1.16.1 GPS Unit Settings, Datum, and COORDINATE SYSTEM ...........................................................25 1.16.2 Collecting Readings .....................................................................................................................25 1.16.3 GPS UNIT [UNIT] ........................................................................................................................26 1.16.4 GPS SERIAL NUMBER [GPS#] ..................................................................................................26 1.16.5 GPS DATUM................................................................................................................................26 1.16.6 COORDINATE SYSTEM..............................................................................................................26 1.16.7 Latitude ........................................................................................................................................27 1.16.8 Longitude .....................................................................................................................................28 1.16.9 UTM ZONE ..................................................................................................................................29 1.16.10 EASTING (X) UTM.......................................................................................................................29