ForestERA - Data and Maps Overview

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Data and Maps Overview

ForestERA has developed and acquired spatial data for the western Mogollon Plateau in north-central Arizona, the White Mountains region in eastern Arizona and north-central New Mexico area as shown on this map. You can download spatial data for western Mogollon Plateau area directly from our web pages. Please contact us to receive a copy of our White Mountains and north-central New Mexico data products on CD or DVD.

ForestERA has developed a set of "middle resolution" data layers and analyses that allow stakeholders to link broad regional analyses with detailed project-level planning. They are best employed for areas of several thousand to several million acres (1,000 - 2,000,000 ha).

Our available data layers can be grouped into three categories, based on their origin:

Foundational data layers describe forest conditions and physiographic characteristics of the landscape;
Key data layers derived from the foundational data describe fire, watershed, and wildlife habitat characteristics; and
Supplemental data layers describe characteristics that have been collected or derived from other sources.

A fourth category, unavailable data, describe layers that we were unable to locate or create.

For most of the available data layers, we provide a color map, along with a brief description of the data and its sources, as well as a more technical assessment of accuracy and other descriptors of data quality. For your convenience, we also list all available data layers by type (vegetation, physiographic, wildlife habitat, etc.) on our downloads page. The complete data set is also available on CD-ROM (contact us). Finally, we provide a glossary that may help in the interpretation of the more technical terminology within the atlas.

Please carefully review the metadata provided with each layer. We request that users consult with the ForestERA project in advance of using these data in publications and/or presentations to ensure that the strengths and limitations of the data are considered.

We believe that the data and tools that we are providing are the best available, and that they present new opportunities for informed assessment of ponderosa pine forest restoration opportunities. We hope that presenting and describing these data layers and their characteristics here will help to build a sense of confidence in and ownership of this information, while at the same time conveying the fact that these data – like all forms of information – have limitations, and care must be used to assure that they are used appropriately.