Abstract

GIS Tools for accessing timber and energy forecasts
Track: Forestry and Wildlife Management
Authors: Mairtin Mac Siurtain, Anita Nemesova

The forecast project team have produced geospatial forecasts of roundwood production from private sector forests 2009-2028 in the Republic of Ireland. Three web-based GIS tools have been developed to aid in accessing the forecasts based on free software. The timber supply forecasts are available for the four provinces, the 26 counties and for 42 towns each with 60 and 80 km catchments, stored on web server and can be accessed by hyperlinked GIS tools. The GIS tools encourage users in the forestry and energy sectors to use GIS to access geospatial forecasts of private sector timber supply for period 2009-2029 and make forecasts available at user specified scales through very simple GIS compatible interfaces and users can very easily to view, explore, and print the maps with respect to the main OSi road networks and users can accurately map forest areas, predict future growth and make a decision on accessibility.