Conifer Timber Quality

General System description

System name: Conifer Timber Quality

Brief overview

Part of the GB Forestry Decision Support System, this tool enables the user to get some Sitka spruce timber features as the percentage of juvenile wood, the average denisty, etc.

Scope of the system

This system insists on the influence of stand characteristics as stocking density, yield class or thinning treatments in the quality of the wood obtained from this stands.

System origin

• Currently free to use via web.
• It was developed to be used among researchers.

Support for specific issues

Timber quality analysis.

Support for specific thematic areas of a problem type

• Silvicultural
• Development choices / land use zoning
• Policy/intervention alternatives
• Sustainability impact assessment (SIA)

Capability to support decision making phases

Allows user to vary management options in order to obtain better quality wood

Related systems

Describe (and/or link to) other systems related

• EMIS
• ESC
• ForestGales

Data and data models

Typical spatial extent of application

Web based tool operates at stand scale, as the wood quality characteristics resulting belongs always to trees growing in stockings.

Type of information input from user (via GUI)

Species (at this moment only stika spruce is allowed), yield class, age, stocking density and thinnings schedule.

Models

Forest models

Growing models and wood quality models. Models are only available for Sitka spruce at this moment, due to be expanded to cover Scots Pine in 2009/2010 as well as further timber properties.

Decision Support

Definition of management interventions

Silvicultural interventions in obtained wood quality.

Typical temporal scale of application

Has some support for future climate scenarios, baseline data is from 1961-1990.

Types of decisions supported

• Management level
  • strategic decisions
  • administrative decisions
  • operating control decisions
• Management function
• planning decisions
  • organizing decisions
  • command decisions
  • control decisions
  • coordination decisions

Output

Types of outputs

Current version generates tables via web.

System

System requirements

• Java library deployed on Linux and Windows. UI available via web.

Architecture and major DSS components

Web Java, C#, 3D visualisation system with Java and VTK

Usage

Computational limitations

User interface

Web UI requires some understanding of yield classes and wood quality requirements and measures.

Documentation and support

Installation

• Prerequisite knowledge: Only requires a web browser and an internet access.

References

External resources

• Forest Research Decision Support Portal (note registration required)
• GARDINER, B., E. MACDONALD, J, HUBERT et J. FORBES (2002): Towards a timber quality model for British grown Sitka spruce. Conference paper on the development of a timber quality model for British-grown Sitka spruce.