Annual forest inventory statistical concepts with emphasis on multiple imputation

Annual measurement of a subset of permanent plots provides timely information on the forest resource. A variety of methods for analyzing the data from an annual survey are discussed, but coverage of all possible methods is not attempted. The methods considered range from application of standard systematic sampling procedures to more elaborate time series methods. The bulk of the discussion concerns analysis procedures for singly and multiply imputed data sets, which contain imputed values for plots not measured during the current year. This is accompanied by a limited discussion of imputing methods.