This geospatial dataset was created by the Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and the Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC) to show the extent, distribution, and forest type composition of the nation’s forests.
The dataset was created by modeling forest type from FIA plot data as a function of more than one hundred geospatially continuous predictor layers.
This process results in a view of forest type distribution in greater detail than is possible with the FIA plot data alone.
Nearly one-half million FIA sample plots nationwide were used to develop these models.
Among the predictor layers used were digital elevation models (DEM) and DEM derivatives; Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) multi-date composites, vegetation indices and vegetation continuous fields; class summaries from the 1992 National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD); various ecologic zones; and summarized PRISM climate data.
Modeling was performed using a data mining package, Cubist/See5TM, which was loosely coupled with Leica Geosystems ImagineTM image processing software.
Image Files
Image file downloads are zipped together with metadata. Metadata files can also be downloaded separately.
