Design and Analysis Toolkit for Inventory and Monitoring (DATIM)

The Design and Analysis Toolkit for Inventory and Monitoring (DATIM) was created to assist national forests with planning, inventory, and monitoring needs using freely available Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, and to provide the public with analysis tools for FIA data. 

DATIM includes three modules: 

• Design Tool for Inventory and Monitoring (DTIM) that assists national forests and grasslands and other users in determining objectives, questions, and metrics for monitoring plans. 
• Analysis Tool for Inventory and Monitoring (ATIM) enables users to analyze vegetation data to derive estimates of current conditions and trends on the Forest and surrounding landscapes. 
• Spatial Intersection Tool (SIT) enables users to add spatial attributes to DATIM datasets for use in ATIM. 

DATIM meets the following needs:

• Improve monitoring designs and data analyses by developing nationally consistent tools Leverage existing data, research, and tools, including Regional inventory and monitoring tools and FSVegUse FIA data as base level for intensification. 
• Draw on FIA’s research into estimation methods and on optimal sampling and plot design. 
• Build on existing FIA design and analysis tools Focus on National Forest System needs, including climate change monitoring.
• Address emerging monitoring requirements at the forest and landscape levels associated with climate change, carbon reporting, biofuels, and sustainability.