MELA
General System description
System name: MELA
Brief overview
MELA is an operational decision support system developed and maintained by Metla (Finnish Forest Research Institute) based on its forest research.
This system has been used since the 1980s in the analyses of wood production possibilities and the impact of different harvest levels at national and regional scale in Finnland[1].
Contents
Scope of the system
MELA is a general analysis tool for forest management planning. It can be used e.g. in the computational updating of forest resource data and in the search of effective or optimal production programs for forest areas (a property or a company). When linked with end-user applications for forest planning, the MELA software supports interactive planning. For example, the current MELA version provides more diversified and detailed information for taking into account errors and risk. Furthermore, MELA allows flexible combinations of various data sources and models to improve cost-efficiency and effectiveness of forest inventory and planning.
System origin
- It was developed by Metla researchers.
- It has been different version releases. Some of them are MELA99, MELA2000, MELA2002, MELA2004 and MELA2005.
- MELA system has been installed by a number of clients in state, company and private forestry since its first release in the 1980s.
- MELA has introduced JLP optimization software.
Related systems
Data and data models
Typical spatial extent of application
Although being extensively used in national and regional planning, MELA is not only used at this scale scenarios, but also in ownership planning.
References
Cited references
- ↑ GADOW, K.v., T. NUUTINEN et S. KELLOMÄKI (2008): Adaptative Design of Forested Landscapes. In GADOW, K.v. et T. PUKKALA (Eds.): Designing Green Landscapes. Springer, New York, pp 3-30.
