Mapping Aspen Groves

Modern technology can let us do some pretty neat things. Previously, members of our office had hand mapped the locations of aspen groves in the Bodie Hills. Their outlines were then digitized, giving us a decent GIS layer. But with today's software, heads up digitizing can be both more accurate and more precise (remember the difference?). In addition, the availability of imagery gets better all the time. The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) provides imagery for the entire continental US, and our area was updated in 2009.

I spent some time here and there over the last few weeks updating our layer in order to meet our goal of 1,000 acres of woodland inventory for the year. We can see how areas have declined or improved and identify potential restoration locations. Not field work, but still useful stuff.