Preparation of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and State Soil Geographic Data Base (STATSGO) data for global change research in the Eastern United States

The USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and the Natural Resource Conservation Service's State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) data bases provide valuable natural resource data that can be analyzed at the national scale. When coupled with other data (e.g., climate), these data bases can provide insights into factors associated with current and future ranges of tree species. However, a significant amount of data distillation is needed prior to such analyses. This paper describes the data base and geographic information system (GIS) processing involved with preparing the data for global change research in the eastern United States.