Theses and Dissertations Collection

Forest management has encountered a face paced evolution integrating technologies and data sources which have in turn helped mold a new paradigm of forestry focused on site specific management strategies as opposed to one size fits all management. Precision forestry is rapidly evolving as access to high resolution spatial data and real-time data collection and transfer in remote areas is becoming more possible. This is changing the way decisions are made, especially in forest operations, and the way in which production is analyzed in forest harvesting. Through our work, we established foundational analyses of GNSS-RF data for use in production analysis of forest machinery and the use of lidar-derived products to develop a stand level harvest system selection model. These initial studies will set the groundwork for refining and expanding our analyses as we continue to explore integration of real-time data and high resolution spatial data in forest operations.