Research
Featured Project
Luke W. Rogers
Research Scientist
GIS, Remote Sensing, and Forest Engineering
The Future of Washington Forests and Forestry Industries: The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has requested a proposal to conduct several studies in response to the State Legislature’s request for a report on the future of Washington forests. This report is to examine the economic, recreational, and environmental trends influencing the forest land owners, forest products industry and secondary manufacturing sectors in Washington State.
Washington State Parcel Database : Digital parcel data stored in a geographic information system has become a critical source of information for resource land managers, community development, infrastructure maintenance, homeland security and business development. Washington State leaders, managers, researchers and business continually use GIS parcel data for decision making, science and resource management.
Washington State Forestland Database: To better understand where family forests are located and who owns them, the Rural Technology Initiative, the Family Forest Foundation, and the Washington Farm Forestry Association, with funding from the USDA Forest Service, are creating a statewide parcel-based forest land database.
Western Washington Land Use Change: In 2004, the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) program contracted with the Rural Technology Initiative to investigate the potential of using satellite images as a more cost-effective and repeatable process to determine and calculate land use and its associated change.
Strategic Retention of Working Forests: The Retention of Working Forests Project is grounded in the Forest Land Parcel Data Base, funded by support obtained by the Family Forest Foundation and the Washington Farm Forestry Association and developed by the College of Forest Resources. Its focus was on forestland parcels and characteristics within the database (e.g. ownership type, streams, roads, wetlands and geological features). The project assessed potential productivity of working forests and their underlying biodiversity values and evaluated the risk of forest land conversion by comparing current market values vs. working forest values. (40 minute streaming video)
Quantifying the Geography of Forest Lands in Washington State: Since 2001 the Rural Technology Initiative in partnership with Washington State government, conservation organizations and forestry foundations has been seeking an understanding of the geography and demographics of forest lands and forest landowners in Washington State.
Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Lab (RSGAL)
Conducts research into the multiscale dynamics of landscape change through the innovative application of remote sensing and geospatial tools. RSGAL promotes a transdisciplinary approach for sustainable management solutions to pressing environmental issues.
ECOSEL
An analytical modeling tool that aids forest landowners and managers in selling ecosystem services from their working forestland. ECOSEL optimally allocates management actions to forest stands in order to produce various bundles of timber and non-timber benefits. Read more about ECOSEL.
Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP)
An investigation of the utility of active infrared (LIDAR) and active microwave (IFSAR) sensor data for the estimation of crown fire fuel density, type, and condition.
Southern California
Mapping and analysis of pre-fire fuels loading and burn intensity using pre-fire interferometric synthetic aperture radar data combined with burn intensity derived from post-fire multispectral imagery for the 2003 southern California fires.
Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) Alaska
Exploring how airborne laser scanning (also known as light detection and ranging or LIDAR) and high-resolution imagery can be used for estimating some forest structure and composition variables in FIA forest inventory plots.
Stand Management Cooperative
An industry, agency, and academic partnership developed to provide a continuing source of high quality information on the long-term effects of silvicultural treatments and treatment regimes on stand and tree growth and development and on wood and product quality.
