4. Compilation and Coding of Meta Information Related to the Forest Inventories

Two databases were created in Fox Pro to store meta information directly extracted from the inventory reports: Biomass.dbf, containing the more general information (Table n.1) and Bio_tab.dbf, with more specific information (Table n.2). The two tables were linked via the id code, where of the six characters, the first 3 represent the FORIS Country Code and the last 3 are a serial number. The structures of Biomass.dbf and Bio_tab.dbf are the following:

Structure for table	c:\alessa~1\biomass\biomass.dbf
Number of data records	248
Date of last update	08/09/1999
Memo file block size	64
Code Page	0

Field	Field Name	Type	Width	Dec	Index	Collate
1	CTY_CODE	Numeric	4
2	ID	Character	6
3	COUNTRY	Character	10
4	AUTHOR	Character	150
5	BIBL_REF	Character	254
6	PUB_DATE	Character	4
7	NAMEOFINV	Character	254
8	INV_DATE	Character	4
9	NATIONAL	Logical	1
10	GEOLOCATIO	Character	254
11	INVAREA	Numeric	10	1
12	MAP	Logical	1
13	STRA_CRIT	Character	100
14	DESIGN	Character	200
15	INTENSITY	Character	9
16	COVERAGE	Character	25
17	DIAMETER	Numeric	3
18	VOL_TYPE	Character	25
19	BIO_UTIL	Logical	1
20	NOTES	Memo	10
Total			1326

Field name	Description
CTY_CODE	Country code (FORIS)
ID	Country code (FORIS) and serial number
COUNTRY	Country
AUTHOR	Author or Organization
BIBL_REF	Title of the document
PUB_DATE	Date of publication
NAMEOFINV	Name of the inventory
INV_DATE	Date at the end of the field work
NATIONAL	The administrative level of the inventory
GEOLOCATIO	Location of the area inventoried, name of the district, or any useful reminder
INVAREA	Area in hectares covered by the inventory
MAP	"T" when the inventory provides a map
STRA_CRIT	Information about the use of stratification or not
DESIGN	Inventory design and sampling methods
INTENSITY	Intensity of the sampling
COVERAGE	Species for which the volume was reported
DIAMETER	Minimum diameter (d.b.h) of trees for which the volume is reported
VOL_TYPE	Volume type: under bark, over bark, with branches etc.
BIO_UTIL	"T" if the document at the end of the review and GIS georeferencing procedure satisfied all of the requirements and could be used in the volume/biomass study
NOTES	Description of particular information

Table 1

Structure for table	c:\fao\max\biomass\bio_tab.dbf
Number of data records	286
Date of last update	08/09/99
Memo file block size	64
Code Page	0

Field	Field Name	Type	Width	Dec	Index	Collate
1	ID	Character	6
2	ID GIS	Character	3
3	REPO_UNIT	Character	50
4	UNI_AREA	Numeric	10	1
5	VOL_HA	Numeric	5	1
6	SAMP_ERR	Numeric	5	1
7	STAND_STOC	Logical	1
8	COMMENTS	Memo	10
9	GEO_COOR	Logical	1
Total			92

Field name	Description
ID	Country code (FORIS) and serial number
ID_GIS	Unique ID used to link the information with the GIS
REPO_UNIT	Report unit of the inventory or block
UNI_AREA	Area in hectares of the report unit
VOL_HA	Volume in cubic meters per hectare
SAMP_ERR	Sampling error
STAND_STOC	"T" if stand stock tables were provided
COMMENTS	Information and additional information on the volume or reporting units
GEO_COOR	"T" if the coordinates were available

Table 2