Estimation of the Forest Stand Volumes from Forest Inventory Data Based on Synthetic Estimation Method: A Case of the Economic Forest in Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea

This study aims to estimate the forest volumes of the economic forest in Gangwon Province of Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as Gangwon) through the synthetic estimation. To estimate the forest volume, Stratified systematic sampling method was used along with the forest type maps and the $5^{th}$ National Forest Inventory data. The synthetic estimation includes sample plots of the expanded areas as well as those of the target area, and the forest volume of economic forest in every city and county throughout Gangwon. Results show that the average forest volume calculated by synthetic estimation was $159.6m^3/ha$ in national economic forest and $129.6m^3/ha$ in private economic forest. The total forest volume of the national economic forest was approximately $59.45million\;m^3$, which was $20.18million\;m^3$ higher than that of the private economic forest. On the other hands, the standard error of the national economic forest was approximately ${\pm}2.21m^3/ha$, which was ${\pm}0.30m^3/ha$ lower than that of the private economic forest. The lowest standard errors was about ${\pm}3.12 m^3/ha$ in broad-leaved forest, followed by ${\pm}4.33m^3/ha$ of mixed forest, and ${\pm}5.78m^3/ha$ of coniferous forest.