GIS tools in the optimisation of the shapes and the size of the sample for forest inventory of large territorial units.

Possibilities of the GIS tools implementation in testing of the most appropriate shape and optimal number of the exemplary surfaces as the sample units for the assessment of the forest land areas in forest inventories in large areas are presented in this paper. * Rad prezentiran na III simpoziju poljoprivrede, veterinarstva, šumarstva i biotehnologije sa međunarodnim učešćem Strategija razvoja domaće proizvodnje, 28 – 30 septembar/rujan 2005. Sanski Most 1 Šumarski fakultet Univerziteta u Sarajevu – Faculty of Forestry University of Sarajevo Ahmet Lojo & Besim Balić During the testing, different shapes of the clusters were considered. Exemplary areas in clusters are formed in digital form and systematically distributed in different square grids, keeping the same covered area – the same rate of the selection in the overall sample. For testing , real data on forest areas – vector maps, was used as the sample, this cover about one tenth of the total area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or the forest area and forest land. All maps were aggregated in one layer, which in turn produced a single map of all cultures. Using the method of overlapping of layers and at the same time overlapping of their data bases, one can easily get to the result which is similar to that from the forest inventory. Subsequent to further statistical analysis of the resulting bases, it is possible to get the answer which one of the sample models is the most representational and which one presents the closest data to the areas in relation with the real ones. This paper, in essence, does not provide final answers, but only gives the guidelines for the method by which it is possible to reach these answers. This method was used in the process of methodology development for the second state forest inventory in Bosnia and Herzegovina.