SAF Measurement, Analysis & Decision Support Systems 3

Question 1

In forest operations research, the traveling salesman problem (TSP) framework is most directly analogous to which silvicultural planning challenge?

Accepted Answer

Scheduling regeneration harvests across a landscape to minimize road travel distance

Answer

TSP seeks the shortest route visiting all nodes once, analogous to routing harvest crews or log trucks across dispersed stands to minimize travel distance.

Question 2

Which remote sensing index is most commonly used to detect forest stress and chlorophyll content because it normalizes near-infrared and red reflectance?

Accepted Answer

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)

Answer

NDVI = (NIR − Red)/(NIR + Red) exploits the contrast between high NIR reflectance and low red reflectance in healthy vegetation to detect stress and biomass.

Question 3

A forester runs a regression of total tree height (Y) on DBH (X) and obtains R² = 0.88. What does this mean?

Accepted Answer

DBH explains 88% of the variation in tree height in the sample

Answer

R² is the coefficient of determination; it represents the proportion of variance in the dependent variable (height) explained by the independent variable (DBH) in the fitted model.

Question 4

Under the FIA (Forest Inventory and Analysis) national design, what type of sampling design is used for annual inventory?

Accepted Answer

Systematic grid with rotating panels

Answer

FIA uses a systematic grid of permanent clusters measured on a rotating panel schedule (typically 10-20% remeasured annually), enabling annualized state-level estimates.

Question 5

When constructing a timber harvest schedule using linear programming, which constraint type directly enforces even-flow of volume across planning periods?

Accepted Answer

Harvest volume deviation constraints

Answer

Harvest volume deviation constraints limit the percentage by which harvest volume in any period can differ from a target level, enforcing even-flow across the planning horizon.

(SAF) Society of American Foresters Certification Practice Test

(SAF) Society of American Foresters Certification Practice Test

SAF Measurement, Analysis & Decision Support Systems 3