Nevada’s Photo-Based Inventory Pilot (NPIP)

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA) of the USDA Forest Service inventories status and trends in forested ecoregions Nationwide. The complex nature of this broad-scale, strategic-level inventory demands constant evolution and evaluation of methods to get the best information possible while continuously increasing efficiency. The state of Nevada poses some interesting challenges for FIA: it is not yet funded for annual inventory; it has the most incomplete and outdated periodic data in the Interior West; it is comprised of predominantly nonforested federal lands; and the small proportion of forest land is dominated by woodland tree species. Consequently, it offers a good test bed for alternative methodologies to improve precision in estimates of forest parameters, reduce field data collection costs, and address the potential of a strategic-level inventory on lands not traditionally sampled by FIA, such as rangelands and riparian areas. In 2004, the “Nevada Photo-based Inventory Pilot” (NPIP) was launched involving the acquisition and processing of large-scale real time GPS controlled aerial photography (LSP) throughout the State of Nevada over two field seasons. The over-arching goals of this pilot are to exceed information requirements, step-up inventory timeline, and reduce inventory costs. Here, we describe the photo-interpretation process, outline the estimation strategies, and report initial results for northeastern Nevada.