SmartForest - an interactive forest visualizer

What is SmartForest?
SmartForest is an interactive 3-D forest environment. Each tree symbol represents biological data about tree type, size, and vigor. In SmartForest-I, the "test-of-concept" model the user can interactively experiment by harvesting trees, growing them, and watching the progress of insect outbreaks.

SF-I had two drawbacks -- the difficulty of acquiring sufficiently detailed data, and the relatively small "forest" that could be visualized and still achieve interactivity -- +/- 5000 stems. SmartForest-II addresses a more typical forest management situation -- stand-level data derived from sample plots, and a landscape-scale forest, tested up to >30kmx30km. An interface has been built to run SF from within ESRI's ArcView. 

Current work focuses on Java development building back the interactive components of SF-I into the landscape-scale version and incorporating interactive model components in a platform-independant environment.

New at SmartForest!
Design document for SmartForest (C version)
Web page
printer-friendly version



Download SmartForest - II
Note: This is for IBM RS/6000

Operations manual

In development:  An ArcView interface to SmartForest - II
Note: This is for UNIX only -- tested only on IBM RS/6000

1997, Orland, B., Forest visual modeling for planners and managers. Proceedings, ASPRS/ACSM/ RT’97 -Seattle, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Washington, DC. vol 4, pp193-203.

1997, Uusitalo, J., and B. Orland, A forest visualization interface for harvest planning. ASPRS/ACSM/ RT’97 -Seattle, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Washington, DC. vol 4, pp216-223.

1997, Orland B., Final Report: SmartForest-II: Forest Visual Modeling for Forest Pest Management and Planning. USDA Forest Service, FPM-FHTET, State and Private Forestry.