ForestGALES

General System description

System name: Forest Gales

Acronym: FG

Brief overview

Forest Gales allows the analysis of wind climate effects on the stability of a conifer forest. The tool can be used to assess risk over time via predicted growth from yield tables or alternatively current risk from mensuration data (top height and dbh).

Recently adapted as part of Stormrisk project to allow model to run in partner countries.

Scope of the system

This tool evaluates the wind hazard of a conifer stand plantation, based on some of the stand feature, like soil, cultivation, drainage, location, or metric measures (top height, average dbh) of the existing species. It provides information as return period, risk status and critical wind speed for both overturn and windsnap risk. It allows to quantify the wind hazard existing in actual stands or, with the help of growth prediction models or yield tables, the future risk of wind damage assumed by current decisions on the establishment of new plantations, thinnings scheduling or rotation periods.

System origin

• Developed by Barry Gardiner, Juan Suarez, Bruce Nicoll, Sophie Hale and others assisting the Stability team.
• Currently free to use at stand scale via web.
• Used in research, education, public and private sector forestry.

Support for specific issues

Wind hazard

Support for specific thematic areas of a problem type

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

Capability to support decision making phases

• Intelligence

gives user detailed site analysis (climate and soil parameters).

• Design

provides site analysis in context of many themes.

• Choice

allows user to vary species choice, management options.

• Monitor

highlights risks which in theory could encourage monitoring.

Related systems

• Conifer Timber Quality Model
• ESC
• EMIS

Data and data models

Typical spatial extent of application

Stand based tool operates at stand scale upto 10 hectares, batch GIS tool has generated regional and national scenarios.

Forest data input

Location via OS GB six figure grid reference, eg NT090950. This allows site windiness to be determined from a digital map.

Type of information input from user (via GUI)

As an alternative to location user can choose a windiness (dams) score or calculate this factor from site factors (aspect, etc.)

User selects tree species, soil, management scenario for detailed analysis from an intermediate screen.

Models

Forest models

Growth, wind hazard.

Decision Support

Definition of management interventions

Thinning, no thinning, spacing, stocking density, creation of brown edge (i.e. removing windfirm edge and creating gap).

Prescription enumerating all selected possibilities at stand level, coarser information in GIS layers.

Typical temporal scale of application

Allows full lifecycle analysis of a rotation 15-80+ years depending upon species.

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
• decision making situation
  • unilateral
  • collegial
  • Bargaining / participative decision making

Decision-making processes and models

• Logic modeling
• Operations research modeling
  • Direct approaches
  • Heuristic manipulation of simulation models
• Multiple criteria/ranking
• Other

Output

Types of outputs

Stand version generates tables, thematic maps can be generated via a batch tool for visualisation in GIS.

Spatial analysis capabilities

• integrated capabilities
• GIS links via batch tool. Limitations in this context due to availability of digital soil maps.
• provides standard data import/export formats (excel)
• allows spatial analysis, batch tool generates thematic layers by exporting data to GIS.

Abilities to address interdisciplinary, multi-scaled, and political issues

Evaluate interactions between different basic information types (biophysical, economic, social). Produce coordinated results for decision makers operating at different spatial scales facilitate social negotiation and learning

System

System requirements

• Java library deployed on Linux and Windows. UI available at stand level via web, or batch system via command line.
• Delphi version requires Windows operating system.

Architecture and major DSS components

3 tier architecture ( UI, Models, Data)

Web based UI using JSP, HTML, CSS

Desktop UI in Delphi.

Also desktop batch tool for GIS processing using Java.

Models are implemented in java and delphi. Available as dll.

Some simple web service interfaces developed for integration with other systems.

Basic dataflow is location accesses site climate data, this and other user input data (tree species/management/soil) are then processed by the various models to generate outputs.

Usage

Used in education, public and private sector forestry and research.

Adapted for use in many other countries.

Computational limitations

Runtime can be an issue for landscape scale analysis over time, but still not more than a few hours.

User interface

Web UI

Delphi desktop UI

For GIS offline service to process data and return a spatial layer with wind risk variables attached. Processing via command line UI. Visualisation any GIS tool.

Documentation and support

Manual available for desktop version. Support available via email. No training courses in recent times but these were run in the past.

Installation

• Prerequisite knowledge: Requires web browser. Server installation requires specialised skills and tools. Batch mode requires some configuration on host machine.

• Windows setup fairly simple via installer.

References

External resources

Forest Research Decision Support Portal (note registration required)