New forest health information web portal

A new website is now available making insect and disease information more accessible and timely. This website brings together a wide range of complex tabular and spatial databases via 5 interfaces:

• Forest Pest Conditions
• Data Summaries
• Insect and Disease (IDS) Explorer
• Pest Event Reporter (PER)
• Forest Disturbance Mapper.

The first 3 are accessible by anyone and provide access to insect and disease occurrence data in a consistent fashion with relative ease. The latter 2 are accessible only by forest health professionals for reporting and using data to enhance their work.

The Forest Pest Conditions page is built on the latest flex and ArcGIS 10 technology and is designed to be a companion to the annual Major Forest Insect and Disease Conditions reports. It provides:

• A simple mapping interface through which the distribution of damaging forest insect and disease populations and their biological range can be viewed for the last five years.
• An overview of biology, current conditions, trends, and survey methods, along with photos and web links for each forest insect and disease.
• The ability to generate pdf reports, maps, and download tabular information.

The Data Summaries interface provides the ability to review, query, aand download tabular data for all forest insects and diseases recorded across the United States since 1997.

The Insect and Disease (IDS) Explorer provides for download of a wide array of forest Insect and Disease Survey (IDS) maps depicting past, present, and potential future activity across the United States through the Insect and Disease Explorer. Other functionality includes:

• Download IDS data in ArcGIS 9.2, 9.3, and 10 file geodatabase formats.
• Create large format pdf maps with the quad map tool that can be printed on a plotter.
• Query, navigate, and learn about local level forest pest activity.

The Pest Event Reporter and the Forest Disturbance Mapper are only accessible by FHP staff and cooperators. Annual insect and disease detection and damage reports are entered in the Pest Event Reporter and made accessible via the Forest Pest Conditions interface. The Forest Disturbance Mapper (FDM) is designed specifically for the FHP survey community to enhance their evaluation of potential forest disturbance in near real-time (16 day composites updated every 8 days) over large areas and provide critical information for survey resource allocation. The FDM web application allows the user to quickly explore and evaluate forest disturbance data and download areas for use in aerial or ground survey. Some of the main elements of the FDM are:

• Simple interface with powerful spatial functions.
• Download of data that can be uploaded into a Digital Aerial Sketchmapping System.
• Ability to upload survey data.

Access the site: http://foresthealth.fs.usda.gov/portal

USDA Forest Service - Forest Health Protection, Southern Region
Last Modified: Monday, 14 January 2013 at 10:14:31 EST