CF Technology & Digital Tools 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which coordinate system is most commonly used in US forestry GIS applications for nationwide datasets?
- State Plane Coordinate System
- Geographic Coordinate System (WGS 84)
- Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) (Correct answer)
- Albers Equal-Area Conic
Correct answer: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
UTM is widely used in US forestry for its meter-based units and minimal distortion across relatively small areas.
Question 2: In remote sensing, what does the term 'spatial resolution' refer to?
- The range of wavelengths a sensor can detect
- The smallest ground area represented by a single pixel (Correct answer)
- The frequency at which an area is revisited by a satellite
- The number of spectral bands in an image
Correct answer: The smallest ground area represented by a single pixel
Spatial resolution defines the ground area covered by one pixel, determining how much detail can be distinguished in an image.
Question 3: A forester uses a handheld GPS unit that reports accuracy of ±3 meters. Which application would be MOST affected by this level of accuracy?
- Locating a stand boundary along a section line
- Navigating to a general watershed area
- Precisely marking an individual specimen tree for research (Correct answer)
- Recording general timber sale area coordinates
Correct answer: Precisely marking an individual specimen tree for research
Individual specimen tree location for research requires sub-meter accuracy, making ±3 m GPS insufficient for that task.
Question 4: What is the primary advantage of using LiDAR over conventional aerial photography for forest inventory?
- Lower cost per acre
- Ability to capture true color imagery
- Penetration through canopy to measure ground and tree structure in 3D (Correct answer)
- Higher temporal resolution
Correct answer: Penetration through canopy to measure ground and tree structure in 3D
LiDAR pulses penetrate canopy gaps and return multiple echoes, enabling precise 3D measurement of tree heights and terrain beneath.
Question 5: Which software platform is specifically designed for forest growth and yield modeling rather than general GIS analysis?
- ArcGIS Pro
- FVS (Forest Vegetation Simulator) (Correct answer)
- QGIS
- Google Earth Engine
Correct answer: FVS (Forest Vegetation Simulator)
FVS is the USFS-developed growth and yield modeling system designed specifically for projecting forest stand dynamics over time.
Question 6: What is a digital elevation model (DEM) primarily used for in forestry applications?
- Identifying individual tree species from spectral signatures
- Deriving terrain variables such as slope, aspect, and watershed boundaries (Correct answer)
- Tracking wildlife movement patterns
- Estimating chlorophyll content of foliage
Correct answer: Deriving terrain variables such as slope, aspect, and watershed boundaries
DEMs represent terrain elevation and are used to derive slope, aspect, curvature, and hydrological features critical for site analysis.
Question 7: A forester collects timber cruise data on a field tablet and wants to sync it directly to office software upon return. Which technology best enables this seamless data transfer?
- Bluetooth Low Energy pairing
- Cloud-based field data collection platforms (e.g., Esri Field Maps, Collector) (Correct answer)
- Manual CSV export and import
- Barcode scanning
Correct answer: Cloud-based field data collection platforms (e.g., Esri Field Maps, Collector)
Cloud-based field data collection platforms allow real-time or on-return synchronization of GPS-tagged field data to enterprise GIS or databases.
CF Technology & Digital Tools 2
Which coordinate system is most commonly used in US forestry GIS applications for nationwide datasets?