skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Simultaneous density-integral system for estimating stem profile and biomass: Slash pine and willow oak

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:422103

In the wood utilization industry, both stem profile and biomass are important quantities. The two have traditionally been estimated separately. The introduction of a density-integral method allows for coincident estimation of stem profile and biomass, based on the calculus of mass theory, and provides an alternative to weight-ratio methodology. In the initial development of the technique, sectional bole weight was predicted from a density integral formed from two equations that were fitted independently using ordinary least squares: (1) a stem-profile, or taper, function and (2) a specific gravity function. A test for contemporaneous correlations using slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) and willow oak (Quercus phellos L.) data showed highly significant correlations between the density integral and the stem-profile equation as well as the specific gravity equation. However, there was little or no correlation between the stem-profile and specific gravity equations. Because contemporaneous correlations exist between some of the equations, more efficient parameter estimation can be achieved through joint-generalized least squares, better known as seemingly unrelated regressions.

Research Organization:
Forest Service, New Orleans, LA (United States). Southern Forest Experiment Station
OSTI ID:
422103
Report Number(s):
PB-97-123434/XAB; TRN: 70031331
Resource Relation:
Other Information: DN: Figures in this document may not be fully legible in microfiche. Pub. in Canadian Jnl. of Forest Research 26, 773-781(1996); PBD: 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English