Extracts data from FIA's online publicly-available DataMart (https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/CSV/datamart_csv.html).
DBgetPlots(
states = NULL,
RS = NULL,
datsource = "datamart",
data_dsn = NULL,
dbTabs = dbTables(),
eval = "FIA",
eval_opts = NULL,
puniqueid = "CN",
invtype = "ANNUAL",
intensity1 = FALSE,
issubp = FALSE,
istree = TRUE,
isseed = FALSE,
greenwt = FALSE,
addplotgeom = FALSE,
othertables = NULL,
getxy = FALSE,
xy_datsource = NULL,
xy_dsn = NULL,
xy = "PLOT",
xy_opts = xy_options(),
xymeasCur = FALSE,
coordType = "PUBLIC",
pjoinid = NULL,
issp = FALSE,
spcond = FALSE,
spcondid1 = FALSE,
defaultVars = TRUE,
regionVars = FALSE,
regionVarsRS = "RMRS",
ACI = FALSE,
subcycle99 = FALSE,
stateFilter = NULL,
allFilter = NULL,
alltFilter = NULL,
returndata = TRUE,
savedata = FALSE,
exportsp = FALSE,
saveqry = FALSE,
savePOP = FALSE,
savedata_opts = NULL,
dbconn = NULL,
dbconnopen = FALSE,
evalInfo = NULL,
...
)String or numeric vector. Name (e.g., 'Arizona','New Mexico') or code (e.g., 4, 35) of state(s) for evalid. If all states in one or more FIA Research Station is desired, set states=NULL and use RS argument to define RS.
String vector. Name of research station(s) to get public XY coordinates for ('RMRS','SRS','NCRS','NERS','PNWRS'). Do not use if states is populated. See FIESTA::ref_statecd for reference to RS and states.
String. Source of data ('datamart', 'sqlite').
String. If datsource='sqlite', the name of SQLite database (*.sqlite).
List. Source of tables needed for estimation based on what is defined in eval_opts(Type). The source can be a layer in data_dsn or a comma delimited file. For example, if Type='P2VEG', vsubpspp_layer and/or vsubpstr_layer must be defined. Defaults are 'P2VEG_SUBPLOT_SPP' and 'P2VEG_SUBP_STRUCTURE', respectively. See help(dbTables) for a list of options.
String. Type of evaluation time frame for data extraction ('FIA', 'custom'). See eval_opts for more further options.
List of evaluation options for 'FIA' or 'custom' evaluations to determine the set of data returned. See help(eval_options) for a list of options.
String. Name of unique identifier in plot_layer in dbTabs.
String. Type of FIA inventory to extract ('PERIODIC', 'ANNUAL', 'BOTH').
Logical. If TRUE, includes only plots where INTENSITY = 1.
Logical. If TRUE, subplot tables are extracted from FIA database (SUBPLOT, SUBP_COND).
Logical. If TRUE, include tree data.
Logical. If TRUE, include seedling data.
Logical. If TRUE, green weight biomass is calculated.
Logical. If TRUE, variables from the PLOTGEOM table are appended to the plot table.
String Vector. Name of other table(s) in FIADB to include in output. The table must have PLT_CN as unique identifier of a plot.
Logical. If TRUE, gets separate XY table.
Source of XY data ('obj', 'csv', 'datamart', 'sqlite').
If datsource='sqlite', the file name (data source name) of the sqlite database (*.sqlite) where XY data are.
sf R object or String. Table with xy coordinates. Can be a spatial polygon object, data frame, full pathname to a shapefile, or name of a layer within a database.
List of xy data options to specify if xy is NOT NULL. See xy_options (e.g., xy_opts = list(xvar='LON', yvar='LAT').
Logical. If TRUE, include XY coordinates from the most current sampled measurement of each plot.
String. Type of xy coordinates using ('PUBLIC', 'ACTUAL')
String. Variable in plt to join to XY data. Not necessary to be unique. If using most current XY coordinates, use identifier for a plot (e.g., PLOT_ID).
Logical. If TRUE, an sf spatial object is generated from the public X/Y coordinates in the plot table.
Logical. If TRUE, a set of condition-level attributes (e.g., FORTYPCD) represented at the plot-level are extracted from FIA DataMart COND table. (See Notes for more info on how condition attributes were added).
Logical. If TRUE and issp=TRUE and spcond=TRUE, condition variables are determined by condition 1 attributes. If FALSE, an algorithm is used to select the condition to use (See details for alorithm used).
Logical. If TRUE, a set of default variables are selected in query. See notes for variable descriptions.
Logical. If TRUE, regional variables are included in query (e.g., SDI_RMRS, SDIPCT_RMRS, SDIMAX_RMRS, QMD_RMRS).
String. Region for regionVars ('RMRS','SRS','NCRS','NERS','PNWRS').
Logical. If TRUE, the data from All Condition Inventories (ACI) are included in dataset (NF_SAMPLING_STATUS_CD = 1). See below for more details.
Logical. If TRUE, includes plots with SUBCYCLE = 99. These plots are plots that are measured more than once and are not included in the estimation process.
Character string or Named list. Logical statement to use as plot and filter in sql query. Must include plot alias ('p.') and be sql syntax (e.g., 'p.COUNTYCD = 1'). If more than 1 state, stateFilter must be a named list with names as state(s) (e.g., list(Utah='p.COUNTYCD = 1').
String. An overall filter for plot or condition data in all states in query. The expression must be R syntax (e.g., 'PLOT_STATUS_CD == 1').
String. If istree=TRUE, an overall filter for tree data in all states (e.g., only Whitebark pine trees - 'SPCD == 101'). Note: returns only plots with trees included in filter.
Logical. If TRUE, returns data objects.
Logical. If TRUE, saves data to outfolder as comma-delimited file (*.csv). No objects are returned. If FALSE, the data are saved as R objects and returned to user. See details for caveats.
Logical. If TRUE, and issp=TRUE, exports spatial plots.
Logical. If TRUE, saves queries to outfolder (by state).
Logical. If TRUE, save and return the POP_PLOT_STRATUM_ASSGN table.
List. See help(savedata_options()) for a list of options. Only used when savedata = TRUE. If out_layer = NULL,
Open database connection.
Logical. If TRUE, the dbconn connection is not closed.
List. List object output from DBgetEvalid or DBgetXY
For extendibility. FIESTA functions.
if returndata=TRUE, a list of the following objects:
Vector. Input state(s) (full state names: Arizona).
List. A list of data frames from FIA database, including plt and cond; and tree (if Type='VOL'); seed (if isseed=TRUE), p2veg_subplot_spp, p2veg_subp_structure, and invasive_subplot_spp (if Type='P2VEG'). See below 'Output Tables - FIA Table Names' for reference to FIA database tables. See FIESTA:ref_* for variable descriptions (e.g., FIESTAutils::ref_tree). If istree and the number of states > 3, tree data are saved to outfolder and not returned to accommodate R memory issues.
Data frame. XY data from FIA's public database. If measCur=TRUE, named xyCur_PUBLIC, else named xy_PUBLIC. The data frame has 10 columns ('PLT_CN', 'LON_PUBLIC', 'LAT_PUBLIC', 'STATECD', 'UNITCD', 'COUNTYCD', 'PLOT', 'INTENSITY', 'PLOT_ID' (ID+STATECD+UNTCD+COUNTYCD+PLOT), 'COUNTYFIPS'. If issp=TRUE, returns an sf object.
If spcond=TRUE, the condition variables representing each plot for spatial display. For plots with multiple conditions, the selected condition is based on CONDID=1 (if spcondid1=TRUE) or a set if criteria defined in Details - spcond (if spcondid1=FALSE).
Number. If evalCur=TRUE or evalEndyr is not NULL, the Evalidation ID from the FIA database used to define the output data.
Data frame. Number of plots (NBRPLOTS) by state, cycle, inventory year, and plot status.
Data frame. If savePOP=TRUE, and FIA Evaluations are used to extract data from database, return the POP_PLOT_STRATUM_ASSGN table or, if more than one Type and savePOP=FALSE. If more than one Type, only the records for the evalTypes are returned, otherwise all Types for the state evaluation are returned.
*Output Tables - FIA Table Names*
| tab | FIA Table | |
| plt | plot | |
| cond | cond | |
| tree | tree | |
| p2veg_subplot_spp | P2VEG_SUBPLOT_SPP | |
| p2veg_subp_structure | P2VEG_SUBP_STRUCTURE | |
| invsubp | INVASIVE_SUBPLOT_SPP | |
| subplot | SUBPLOT | |
| subp_cond | SUBP_COND | |
| cond_dwm_calc | COND_DWM_CALC | |
| grm | TREE_GRM_COMPONENT | |
| issccm | SUBP_COND_CHNG_MTRX |
#' Outputs to outfolder (if savedata=TRUE):
| - If saveqry=TRUE, text file(s) of SQL queries used to extract data from database (_.txt). Note: one query is used for extracting both plt and cond (pltcondqry*.txt). | |
| - CSV file of plot and condition counts (pltcnt*.txt). | |
| - Layers in a database or CSV files of output tables. | |
| - If issp=TRUE, a feature class or ESRI shapefile of plot-level level attributes. If shapefile (.shp), variable names are truncated to 10 characters or less. See notes for more info. | |
| - If issp=TRUE and out_fmt='sqlite', the SQLite data is SpatiaLite. |
To deal with limitations of R object size and/or computer memory issues, if
istree=TRUE and more than three states are desired, the tree data are saved
to a CSV file, with no tree data object returned.
FIA forest land definition
Current
Forested plots include plots with >= 10 percent cover (or
equivalent stocking) by live trees of any size, including land that formerly
had such tree cover and that will be naturally or artificially regenerated.
To qualify, the area must be >= 1.0 acre in size and 120.0 feet wide (See
Burrill et al. 2018).
*ACI (All Condition Inventory)*
RMRS National Forest plots. For nonforest
conditions that have been visited in the field (NF_SAMPLING_STATUS_CD =
if trees exist on the condition, the data exist in the tree table. If you do
not want these trees included, ACI=FALSE. This will filter the data to only
forested conditions (COND_STATUS_CD = 1)
*Nevada*
In 2016, the population area of Nevada changed to exclude the
large restricted area owned by Department of Defense (Area 51) from the
sample. Prior to 2016, the plots within this area were observed using aerial
photos and if they were definitely nonforest the plots were entered in the
database with nonforest information. If they were observed as forested or
potentially forested, they were given a PLOT_STATUS_CD=3 because they were
Denied Access. From 2016 on, all plots within this area are removed from the
sample, and thus, removed from database.
FIA DataMart Data
FIA data available on FIA DataMart include the following information.
| - the PLOT variable is renumbered. | |
| - the LON/LAT coordinates are fuzzed & swapped. | |
| - the OWNERCD variable is based on fuzzed & swapped locations. | |
| - ECOSUBCD, CONGCD, ELEV, and EMAP_HEX are GIS-extracted values based on fuzzed & swapped locations. | |
| - For annual data, forested plots represent the current definition of >= 10 percent cover... | |
| - For periodic data, forested plots are defined by a definition of Other Wooded Land (OWL), including >= 5 percent cover... |
FIA Evaluations
An evaluation is a group of plots within the FIA database that is used for generating population estimates, representing different inventory spans of data with different stratification or area adjustments. Each evaluation is determined by the type of estimation (Type) including: area and tree estimates; growth, removal, and mortality estimates; and area change estimates (EVAL_TYPE). These plots are identified by an evalid, which is a unique identifier in the format of a 2-digit State code, a 2-digit year code, and a 2-digit evaluation type code. For example, EVALID '491601' represents the Utah 2016 evaluation for current area estimates.
FIA Evaluation Types
Define one or more Evaluation Type for Cur=TRUE or Endyr=YYYY. An Evaluation type is used to identify a specific set of plots for a particular response that can be used to a make a statistically valid sample-based estimate. If Type='CURR', the evaluation includes all sampled and nonsampled plots or plots that were missed in an inventory year.
Regional differences may occur on how missed plots are represented in a FIA Evaluation. For example, RMRS Evaluations are static; missed plots are included in an Evaluation as nonsampled, and when measured, are included in a following Evaluation. Therefore, the number of nonsampled plots in previous Evaluations may change, depending on when missed plot are measured. In the PNW Research Station, plots are brought forward to replace missed plots in an evaluation, depending on the Type.
EVAL_TYP
| EVALIDCD | EVAL_TYP | Description | |
| 00 | EXPALL | All area | |
| 01 | EXPVOL/EXPCURR | Area/Volume | |
| 03 | EXPCHNG/EXPGROW/EXPMORT/EXPREMV | Area Change/GRM | |
| 07 | EXPDWM | DWM | |
| 08 | EXPREGEN | Regeneration | |
| 09 | EXPINV | Invasive | |
| 10 | EXPP2VEG | Veg profile | |
| 12 | EXPCRWN | Crown |
Inventory span defining variables
Data can be extracted using FIA Evaluations or a custom-defined Evaluation for one or more states, one or more FIA Research Stations (RS), or all available states in database (states=NULL, RS=NULL).
*FIA Evaluation (eval=FIA)*
| eval_option | Description | |
| evalid | Specified FIA EVALID (e.g., 491801) | |
| Cur | Most current FIA Evaluation | |
| Endyr | End year of an FIA Evaluation (e.g., 2018) | |
| All | All evaluations in database | |
| Type | Type of FIA Evaluation (response) |
*Custom evaluation (eval="custom")*
| eval_option | Description | |
| Cur | Most current measurement of plot in database | |
| Endyr | Most current measurement of plot in database in or before year | |
| All | All years for invtype (ANNUAL or PERIODIC or BOTH) | |
| Type | Type of custom Evaluation (response) | |
| invyrs | Specified inventory years (e.g., 2015:2018) |
Spatial data
If issp=TRUE, an sf spatial object of plot-level attributes is generated from public coordinates, with NAD83 Geographic Coordinate Reference System.
*Exporting*
If savedata=TRUE and out_fmt="shp", the spatial object is
exported to the outfolder using the ESRI Shapefile driver. The driver
truncates variable names to 10 characters or less. Variable names are
changed using an internal function. The name changes are written to a csv
file and saved to the outfolder (shpfile_newnames.csv).
*spcond*
Only one condition per plot is used for spatial representation
of condition attributes. IF CONDID1=TRUE, condition 1 is selected. If
CONDID1=FALSE, the condition is selected based on the following criteria. A
column named CONDMETHOD is added to the attribute table to show the method
and steps used, identified by the abbreviation in parentheses.
| (1) minimum COND_STATUS_CD (_ST) | |
| (2) maximum condition proportion (_CP) | |
| (3) maximum live_canopy_cvr_pct (_CC) | |
| (4) minimum STDSZCD (_SZ) | |
| (5) minimum CONDID (_C1) |
Derived Variables
If defaultVars=TRUE, the following derived variables are calculated after extracting data from the FIA database.
Plot-level variables:
| NBRCND - Number of conditions on plot, including nonsampled conditions (COND_STATUS_CD = 5) | |
| NBRCNDSAMP - Number of sampled conditions on plot. | |
| NBRCNDFOR - Number of sampled forested conditions on plot. | |
| NBRCNDFTYP - Number of sampled forested conditions with different forest types on plot. | |
| NBRCNDFGRP - Number of sampled forested conditions with different forest type groups on plot. | |
| CCLIVEPLT - Percent live canopy cover of condition aggregated to plot-level (LIVE_CANOPY_CVR_PCT * CONDPROP_UNADJ). | |
| PLOT_ID - Unique Identifier for a plot ('ID' + STATECD(2) + UNITCD(2) + COUNTYCD(3) + PLOT(5)). This variable can be used to identify multiple records for each measurement of plot. |
Condition-level variables:
| FORTYPGRP - TYPGRPCD merged to FORTYPCD | |
| FLDTYPGRP - TYPGRPCD merged to FLDTYPCD | |
| FORNONSAMP - Combination of PLOT_STATUS_CD and PLOT_NONSAMPLE_REASN_CD | |
| QMD - Quadratic Mean Diameter |
Tree-level variables:
| BA - the basal area of a tree (BA = DIA * DIA * 0.005454) |
| TREE AGE Notes: | |
| - Available for live timber and woodland trees in the following states: AZ,CO,ID,MT,NV,UT,OR,WA. | |
| - BHAGE - Breast height age (4.5' above ground) of timber trees. | |
| - PNW - one tree is sampled for each species, within each crown class, and for each condition class present on plot. Age of saplings (<5.0" DIA) may be aged by counting branch whorls above 4.5ft. No timber hardwood species other than red alder are bored for age. | |
| - RMRS - one tree is sampled for each species and broad diameter class present on plot. |
| DRYBIO Notes: | |
| DRYBIO_AG - Aboveground oven-dry biomass, in pounds (DRYBIO_AG = (DRYBIO_BOLE + DRYBIO_STUMP + DRYBIO_TOP + DRYBIO_SAPLING + DRYBIO_WDLD_SPP). | |
| - Available for both timber and woodland species, live trees >= 1.0" DIA and dead trees >= 5.0" DIA. Summed dry biomass of the top, bole, and stump of a tree, excluding foliage based on component ratio method (Heath and others, 2009). | |
| - DRYBIO_BOLE - dry biomass of sound wood in live and dead trees, including bark, from a 1-foot stump to a min 4-inch top DIA of central stem (Calculated for timber trees >= 5.0" DIA). | |
| - DRYBIO_STUMP - dry biomass in the tree stump, including the portion of the tree from the ground to the bottom of merchantable bole, 1-foot (Calculated for live and dead trees >= 5.0" DIA). | |
| - DRYBIO_TOP - dry biomass in the top of the tree, including the portion of the tree above merchantable bole, 4-inch top, and all branches, excludes foliage (Calculated for live and dead trees >= 5.0" DIA). | |
| - DRYBIO_SAPLING - dry biomass of saplings, including aboveground portion, excluding foliage, of live timber trees >=1.0" and <5.0" DIA. | |
| - DRYBIO_WDLD_SPP - dry biomass of woodland trees, live or dead, including the aboveground portion, excluding foliage, the top of the tree above 1.5" DIA, and a portion of the stump from ground to DRC (Calculated for woodland trees >= 1.0" DIA. |
ABOVEGROUND CARBON ESTIMATES (IN POUNDS)
Available for both timber and woodland species, live trees >= 1.0" DIA
and dead trees >= 5.0" DIA. Calculated as 1/2 of the aboveground
estimates of biomass:
CARBON_AG = 0.5 * (DRYBIO_AG)
TREE AGE DATA ONLY IN FOR ("AZ", "CO", "ID", "MT", "NV", "UT")
FMORTCFAL includes trees >= 5.0" DIA and greater and is not populated
for states("CA", "OR", "WA", "OK")
Mortality variables only
available in: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK.
TPA If TPA=TRUE and istree=TRUE or isseed=TRUE, the following tree/seedling variables are multiplied by trees-per-acre (TPA_UNADJ). TPA_UNADJ is set to a constant derived from the plot size and equals 6.018046 for trees sampled on subplots, 74.965282 for trees sampled on microplots, and 0.999188 for trees sampled on macroplots. Variable-radius plots were often used in earlier inventories, so the value in TPA_UNADJ decreases as the tree diameter increases (FIADB User Guide)
Variables: VOLCFNET, VOLCFGRS, GROWCFGS, GROWCFAL, FGROWCFGS, FGROWCFAL, MORTCFGS, MORTCFAL, FMORTCFGS, FMORTCFAL, REMVCFGS, REMVCFAL, FREMVCFGS, FREMVCFAL, DRYBIO_BOLE, DRYBIO_STUMP, DRYBIO_TOP, DRYBIO_SAPLING, DRYBIO_WDLD_SPP, DRYBIO_BG, CARBON_BG, CARBON_AG
MISC
For regions outside RMRS, there is no OWNCD attached to nonforest lands.
If no parameters are included, the user is prompted for input. If partial parameters, the default parameter values are used for those not specified.
Data Access All data are downloaded from FIA's publicly-available online Datamart (https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/CSV/datamart_csv.html).
Because of FIA's confidentiality agreement to protect the privacy of landowners as well as protecting the scientific integrity of FIA's sample design, the exact coordinates of the sample plot locations are not included. The X/Y coordinates (LON_PUBLIC/LAT_PUBLIC) for download are perturbed up to a mile from the original location (https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/spatial/Policy/index.php). If the exact location of the plots are necessary for your analysis, contact FIA's Spatial Data Services (https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/spatial/index.php).
DeBlander, Larry T.; Shaw, John D.; Witt, Chris; Menlove, Jim; Thompson, Michael T.; Morgan, Todd A.; DeRose, R. Justin; Amacher, Michael, C. 2010. Utah's forest resources, 2000-2005. Resour. Bull. RMRS-RB-10. Fort Collins, CO; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 144 p.
Heath, L.S.; Hansen, M. H.; Smith, J.E. [and others]. 2009. Investigation into calculating tree biomass and carbon in the FIADB using a biomass expansion factor approach. In: Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium 2008. RMRS-P-56CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 1 CD.
Burrill, E.A., Wilson, A.M., Turner, J.A., Pugh, S.A., Menlove, J., Christiansen, G., Conkling, B.L., Winnie, D., 2018. Forest Inventory and Analysis Database [WWW Document]. St Paul MN US Dep. Agric. For. Serv. North. Res. Stn. URL http://apps.fs.fed.us/fiadb-downloads/datamart.html (accessed 3.6.21).
if (FALSE) {
# Extract the most current evaluation of data for Utah
UTdat <- DBgetPlots(states = "Utah",
eval = "FIA",
eval_opts = list(Cur = TRUE))
names(UTdat)
head(UTdat$plot)
UTdat$pltcnt
# Look at number of plots by inventory year
table(UTdat$plot$INVYR)
# Note: see FIESTAutils::ref_plot and FIESTAutils::ref_cond for variable descriptions
# Or consult FIA Database documentation
# \link{https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/database-documentation/index.php}
# Extract specified inventory years 2012:2014 and spatial information
UTdat2 <- DBgetPlots(states = "Utah",
eval = "custom",
eval_opts = list(invyrs = 2012:2014),
issp = TRUE)
names(UTdat2)
UTdat2$pltcnt
UTdat2$xy_PUBLIC
# Extract and display plots with aspen forest type
UTdat3 <- DBgetPlots(states = "Utah",
eval = "custom",
eval_opts = eval_options(invyrs = 2012:2014),
issp = TRUE,
allFilter = "FORTYPCD == 901")
names(UTdat3)
UTdat3$pltcnt
plot(sf::st_geometry(FIESTA::stunitco[FIESTA::stunitco$STATENM == "Utah",]),
border = "light grey")
plot(sf::st_geometry(UTdat3$xy_PUBLIC), add=TRUE, pch=18, cex=.5)
}