INTA Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria Apps

SilvoINTA is a Forestry assistant. Tree dataare stored in a database and some calculations can be made from it,like basal area or diameter distribution. The real-time viewing ofthis results is useful to cutting control and/or treemarking.The functions of the application are: setting variables, datalogging, display and export data results.Data are recorded at "transect" level, which are located within theso-called "plots" which in turn are within the so-called"projects". The application generates a project file, which can bedownloaded to the device or uploaded to Google Drive. The names ofthese categories are fixed, but realizing that the data are nestedin project / plot / transect, this categories could have anothermeaning, such as owner / stratum / plot or field / stand /plot.The setup menu allows user to customize the name and number ofplots, transects and their surface. The number and name of speciesto be surveyed, the diametric classes (sizes), qualitativecharacteristics of individuals and so-called "destinations" can becustomized, too. The destinations are the variables in wich basalarea will be classified. The basic destinations are "left" and"cut", but number and names of destinations can becustomized.After setting the variables of the project, selecting "addindividual" opens the loading form. Before entering a tree, thetransect (and the plot) surveyed are requested.After indicating that, the loading form is showed, where followingdata can be recorded for each individual: species, size,destination, features and GPS position. In the same form, ifneeded, registered individuals can be eliminated. In this operationeach individual data are registered, and the forester decision (tocut or to leave) too. Applying his knowledge and experience in thefield, the silviculturist can assess many variables and choose tocut or not each assessed tree. At any time, the user can leave theregistration form and check the results.The results can be viewed in four types of graphics: diameterdistribution (number of individuals per hectare, size class andspecies); proportion of individuals according to characteristics,proportion of individuals by destination, and proportion of basalarea by destinations. For all the graphics the user can choose thelevel of aggregation of the data to show: at project, plot ortransect level. The graphs generated are useful to control thecumulative effects of silvicultural decisions, and thus guidefuture decisions within the project under evaluation.At any time the data can be exported to a file within the device(.csv) or upload it to Google Drive.The application does not need connectivity for loading data or toperform calculations. The app can also be used to record inventoryinformation, but if calculations are not requiered, we recommendother database applications, like Memento.This app was developed by researchers from INTA - NationalInstitute of Agricultural Technology, Argentina, to assist treemarking in uneven-aged stands. The app has been successfully usedin Semiarid Chaco forests in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.Android programming was made by www.devsar.comComments and suggestions to improve the application areappretiated.