1. General Model Information
Name: NED Stand Inventory Processor and Simulator
Acronym: NED-SIPS
Main medium: terrestrial
Main subject: forestry
Organization level: ecosystem
Type of model: not specified
Main application: decision support/expert system
Keywords: forest ecosystems, stand inventory, projection, US forest Service, natural resource management,
Contact:
RWU-NE-4454
Integrating Social And Biophysical Sciences For Natural Resource Management
USDA Forest Service
Northeastern Research Station
705 Spear St., P.O. Box 968
Burlington, VT 05402-0968
Phone: (802) 951-6771
Fax: (802) 951-6368
email: jbove/ne_bu@fs.fed.us
Homepage: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/burlington/ne4454.htm
Author(s):
Abstract:
NED/SIPS is an initial product of the development of NED. The computer program,
subtitled Stand Inventory Processor and Simulator (SIPS), provides an effective means of
creating, managing, and analyzing forest inventory records at the stand level. Its
user-friendly interface relieves the pain of entering and editing stand inventory data,
and once data are entered, a host of analytical tools are available to help understand
the data. A variety of reports can be generated describing the vegetation structure,
timber value, and economics of the stand. The user may apply any of a set of standard
treatments to the stand or design a customized cutting scheme, and utilize one of the
four incorporated stand growth simulators to show what the stand may look like in the
future.
Some features of NED/SIPS are:
- User-friendly interface featuring ?pull-down? menus and context-sensitive help.
- Access to four growth and yield simulators using the same data file format.
These four simulators, NE TWIGS, SILVAH, OAKSIM, and FIBER, were all developed
independently by scientists with the Northeastern Station for use in the Northeast.
- Overstory summary tables for common measures of stand characteristics
(that is, density, species composition, volume, and so on).
- Economic analyses of incomes and expenses over the planning horizon.
The relationship of NED/SIPS to NED:
NED/SIPS is one of a group of computer programs intended to support good forest
stewardship. The full set of tools is known collectively as NED, a computer-based,
decision-support system being developed by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station.
NED will provide site-specific analyses of management alternatives and expert
recommendations to improve management for multiple values on forests in the Northeastern
United States. These expert recommendations will be based on the full range of resource
values, including wildlife habitat, visual qualities, and watershed and ecological
characteristics, as well as traditional timber and economic values. This will be
accomplished by incorporating the knowledge of many resource experts into the system,
and using that knowledge along with inventory data describing the present state of a
forest management unit, to build prescriptions that define a path for managing the forest
with silvicultural techniques in a way that should accomplish the user's goals.
The NED/SIPS program is intended for use by a wide range of organizations and individuals,
including national and state forestry organizations, forest industries, private
organizations, and educational groups. The design of the program, however, does assume
certain fundamental knowledge of forestry and natural resource management.
Source of abstract: NED-products page:
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/burlington/ned/product.htm
II. Technical Information
II.1 Executables:
Operating System(s): DOS / Windows
II.2 Source-code:
Programming Language(s):
II.3 Manuals:
download Manual
II.4 Data:
III. Mathematical Information
III.1 Mathematics
III.2 Quantities
III.2.1 Input
III.2.2 Output
IV. References
NED Publications Simpson, Brian T., R. Peter Kollasch, mark J. Twery, Thomas M. Schuler. 1996. NED/SIPS User manual - Northeast Decision Model Stand Inventory Processor and Simulator - Version 1.11. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rpt. NE-205.
V. Further information in the World-Wide-Web
VI. Additional remarks
Last review of this document by: T. Gabele: 22. 07. 1997 ; Juergen Bierwirth Wed Feb 17 16:39:09 CET 1999
Status of the document:
last modified by
Tobias Gabele Wed Aug 21 21:44:46 CEST 2002