efficiency of kriging for estimation and mapping of crown cover and density of zagros oak forests (case study: dadabad region, khorramabad)

estimation and mapping of forest resources is a precondition for management, planning and research.this research was conducted to investigate the spatial structure and estimation of crown cover anddensity of an oak forest in the west of iran (loristan province) using kriging interpolation method ofgeostatistics. field sampling was performed based on a 100 m×100 m systematic grid using 2000 m2circular samples. overall, 80 sample plots were measured in 80 hectare. experimental variograms forforest stem density and crown cover were calculated and plotted using the geo-referenced inventoryplots. the calculated variogram of stem density and crown cover showed strong spatialautocorrelation, which fitted by gaussian model. estimations were made by ordinary block (45 m×45m) kriging. cross-validation results showed that all the estimations are unbiased. therefore, kriginghave the potential to more accurately estimate and map the crown cover and density of this kind ofcoppice forests, accurately.