ARANHA, J.T. [et al.] (2008) - Assessing forestry biomass by means of field work a geostatistics process : a case in Northern Portugal. In International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy, Gimarães, 6th-9th April - Bioenergy : challenges and opportunities. 5 p.
Title
Assessing forestry biomass by means of field work a geostatistics process : a case in Northern Portugal
To assess Forest Biomass availability requires a hard field work survey and elaborate calculation techniques for vegetation classification and quantification. In March, April and May 2006, 900 sampling plots were surveyed with a help of a portable GIS (Geographical Information System) with GPS (Global Positioning System) capabilities. Within each sampling plot, an extensive field work was made in order to completely classify and quantify available forestry biomass. Data collection was regarding total number of trees within sampling plot, individual trees diameter at breast height, mean tree’s height, mean tree’s volume, mean tree’s canopy height and mean tree’s age. The results showed a range of values from 6.00 up to 21.00 dry ton./ha for adult Pinus pinaster (maritime pine) stands and from 1.00 up to 6.00 dry ton./ha for adult Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) stands, both for thinning stands or for clear cut stands. In a second stage, they were applied geostatistic techniques (e.g. Weighted Inverse Distance, Kriging) in order to extend sampling plot results to fully study area and to create continuous biomass maps.
