Analysis of area level and unit level models for small area estimation in forest inventories assisted with LiDAR auxiliary information.

ABSTRACT: Forest inventories require estimates and measures of uncertainty for subpopulations such as management units. These units often times hold a small sample size, so they should be regarded as small areas. When auxiliary information is available, different small area estimation methods have been proposed to obtain reliable estimates for small areas. Unit level empirical best linear unbiased predictors (EBLUP) based on plot or grid unit level models have been studied more thoroughly than area level EBLUPs, where the modelling occurs at the management unit scale. Area level EBLUPs do not require a precise plot positioning and allow the use of variable radius plots, thus reducing fieldwork costs. However, their performance has not been examined thoroughly. We compared unit level and area level E

SUBMITTER: Mauro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5720784 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature