NPP - National Forest Inventory ground plot compiler update. Review and conversion of scripts

A forest biomass inventory is necessary for activities such as estimating the amount of biomass available for bioenergy, and for modeling carbon budgets and determining the contribution of Canada’s forests to the global carbon cycle. In 2002, a database of individual tree biomass equations was developed and used to add a biomass component to the existing national inventory for Canada (CanFI2001), and was subsequently used to estimate biomass in Canada’s new national forest inventory (NFI). The database of individual tree biomass equations requires a review, and updates, to reflect current needs and new developments in biomass estimation. The NFI ground plot compiler consists of a sequence of SAS programs that compute tree volumes and biomass, biodiversity indices, the volume and biomass of coarse and fine woody debris, shrubs, herbs and bryoids, and the carbon content of forest floor, organic and mineral soils. A considerable amount of revision has been done to the programs since the first compilation procedures manual was issued in 2004. Consequently, the manual must now be further revised to incorporate all of the changes that have been made in the compilation procedures. This requirement includes translating Canada’s National Forest Inventory Ground Plots (NFI) SAS Compiler into an R package named “CaNFIgpCompiler.” All of the following skills are required: • Proficiency in forest biometrics to understand the nature and scope of the NFI GP compilation procedures • Proficiency in both SAS and R programming for accurate code translation • Proficiency in developing and creating R packages