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FIA Plot Locations for Soil Carbon Assessment. Objective: determine average soil organic carbon by forest type (w/ std. dev.) SOC calculated from STATSGO soil map data Old Approach: overlay STATSGO w/ forest cover map derived from satellite Avg. for ME: 24.8 kg/m 2
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FIA Plot Locations for Soil Carbon Assessment • Objective: determine average soil organic carbon by forest type (w/ std. dev.) • SOC calculated from STATSGO soil map data • Old Approach: overlay STATSGO w/ forest cover map derived from satellite • Avg. for ME: 24.8 kg/m2 • Problem: map only agrees with FIA forest type 33%! • New Approach: overlay STATSGO w/ forest cover from plot • Avg. for ME: 7.0 kg/m2
FIA Plot Locations for Soil Carbon Assessment FIA plots on STATSGO soils
FIA Plot Locations for Soil Carbon Assessment • What do we need? • Table containing: • FIA PlotID • STATSGO MUID (soil unit identifier) • Why? • Use STATSGO data table: SOC by MUID (for several approaches, several depths) • Use FIA Plot table: forest type group, acreage expansion factor • Need the new table to cross-reference and summarize data • Problem- can’t get it
FIA Plot Locations for Soil Carbon Assessment • Why can’t we get it? • If an MUID contains FIA plots from fewer than three owners, can’t get it. • If an MUID is small enough to contain only one plot, can’t get it. • If a forest type falls on only one MUID, can’t get it. • Result: • Research delayed • Less control over process • Less confidence in results • Not repeatable • Not verifiable • Not a workable research approach