Effect of cluster configuration and auxiliary variables on the efficiency of local pivotal method for national forest inventory

Planning a forest inventory comprises making decisions related to the sampling strategy: cluster configuration, sample size and sample allocation within the survey area. Cluster configuration includes deciding on the number of sample plots within the cluster and distances between them. Available resources set the limit for field work in terms of man-days. If the time consumption for measurements is known, the sample size can be determined under the constraint. In this study, we simulated the second phase of inventory sampling with fixed time resources by replicating sample selection with a spatially balanced sampling utilizing local pivotal method (LPM) for different cluster configurations to find the most efficient. As a result, the temporary cluster configuration was changed from 9 to 5-sample plot configuration in a pilot inventory. Further, the sample selection was performed with LPM having total growing stock volume and broadleaf volume proportion as auxiliary information. The pilot results were aligned with the time series in respect to forest area and total growing stock volume, but in tree species groups deviations were observed in growing stock volume. A more comprehensive optimization should include the travelling routes, the plot-to-plot distances and the plot design. In any case, the result is region specific.