%0 Research article
%T The development and validation of pre-harvest inventory methodologies for timber procurement in Ireland
%A Nieuwenhuis, Maarten
%D 2002
%J Silva Fennica
%V 36
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.543
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/543
%X This article describes the development and validation of a  decision-support system for sawmill wood procurement, dealing  specifically with the integration of the pre-harvest inventory  procedures, site-specific dbh/height models and a generic taper  equation, with a crosscutting simulator. The crosscutting simulation  program faithfully mimics the process of cut-to-length harvesting and  provides detailed information on the potential volume, logs count and  diameter distributions for different log assortment specifications. Four  data sets, consisting of a total of 4153 diameter and height  measurements, were used in the validation process. The sites included  two Sitka spruce clearfells, a Sitka spruce thinning and a Norway spruce  clearfell. The evaluation process has shown that the developed  decision-support system produced accurate results for a wide range of  stand types, as long as sufficient large data sets were used, and that  it provides the wood procurement manager of a sawmill with an efficient  means of gaining a comprehensive insight into the yield potential of  standing timber lots and, as such, represents a valuable aid to timber  procurement and production planning.