FIESTA Manual - Module Estimates

Overview

FIESTA’s Estimation Modules combine multiple functions from FIESTA or other packages to generate estimates across a user-defined population(s) using different estimation strategies. Each module has an associated mod*pop function for compiling the population data and calculations, including adjustments for nonresponse and standardizing auxiliary data. The output form the mod*pop functions are input directly into the mod* estimation modules.

All Estimation Modules require similar inputs, including a set of population data output from associated mod*pop functions and other parameters defining filters and row and/or column domains. Refer to the following vignettes for specific examples.

Module Parameters

The parameters for FIESTA modules are organized by different categories based on population data and resulting estimates.

Estimates:

  1. Plot/condition filters to subset table records
  2. Tree information for tree estimates - modGBtree()
  3. Tree information for ratio estimates - modGBratio()
  4. Output table information
  5. Output table specifications
  6. Output table title(s)

Estimates

Estimation Filters

Filters subset the area of the sample population for the desired output. Filters do no change the population data used for estimate (e.g., number of plots, strata weights). Some filters are defined internally, depending on the dataset, such as land area of interest (landarea) or inclusion of ACI (All Condition Inventory) data. Others are specified according to the input table, such as pfilter or cfilter. The nonsamp.filter is for removing nonsampled conditions and is applied, internally, unless otherwise stated. All filter expressions must be in R syntax.

Tree information for tree estimates - modGBtree()

Tree information is used for calculating estimates for derived tree data, such as basal area (BA), volume (e.g., VOLCFNET), or number of trees (i.e., TPA_UNADJ). All variables except number of tree variables are extrapolated to the acre plot size by multiplying by TPA_*).

Tree information for ratio estimates - modGBratio()

Tree information is used for calculating per-acre ratio estimates (numerator) and per-tree ratio estimates (numerator and denominator) from derived tree data, such as basal area (BA), volume (e.g., VOLCFNET), or number of trees (i.e., TPA_UNADJ). All variables except number of tree variables are extrapolated to the acre plot size by multiplying by TPA_*).

Table estimates

Estimates can be broken down by categorical domains for further detail about a population. These details are presented as rows or rows and columns in a matrix table, with a separate, associated sampling error for each cell in the table. If the area of interest (i.e., population) has more than one estimation unit (i.e., subpopulation), estimates may be presented by estimation unit or summed to the population.

Other

Output table options (table_opts)

The following parameters provide more detail about the presentation and aesthetics of the final output table, including: using code names instead of codes; applying specific ordering; adding categories not in the data set with 0 values; displaying percent standard errors and estimates together or separate; and rounding options. These parameters are set by supplying a list to the table_opts parameter. The possible parameters that can be set within the table_opts parameter can be seen by running help(table_options).

Note: rowlut/collut - There are several objectives for including rowlut/collut look-up tables: 1) to include descriptive names that match row/column codes in the input table; 2) to use number codes that match row/column names in the input table for ordering rows; 3) to add rows and/or columns with 0 values for consistency. No duplicate names are allowed.

Include 2 columns in the table: 1-the merging variable with same name as the variable in the input merge table; 2-the ordering or descriptive variable. If the ordering variable is the rowvar/colvar in the input table and the descriptive variable is in rowlut/collut, set row.orderby/col.orderby equal to rowvar/colvar. If the descriptive variable is the rowvar/colvar in the input table, and the ordering code variable is in rowlut/collut, set row.orderby/col.orderby equal to the variable name of the code variable in rowlut/collut.

Title parameters (title_opts)

If returntitle=TRUE, a default title is generated based on the estimation parameters above. The following parameters allow user-defined inputs for generating customized titles. These parameters are set by supplying a list to the title_opts parameter. The possible parameters that can be set within the title_opts parameter can be seen by running help(title_options).

Saving data specifications (savedata_opts)

If savedata=TRUE, output is saved using default settings. The following parameters specify different options for saving output. These parameters are set by supplying a list to the savedata_opts parameter. The possible parameters that can be set within the savedata_opts parameter can be seen by running help(savedata_options).

Output values from FIESTA modules

Estimates with percent sampling error for the row domain (and column domain) specified by the input parameters. This can be in the form of one table or two separate tables, depending on the number of domains and on allin1 parameter.

A list object with one or more of the following components. If savedata=TRUE, all output data frames are written to outfolder.

Raw data used for producing estimates (If rawdata=TRUE, raw$):

The raw data includes the domain-level data set used for estimation and separate data frames with calculated variables used in estimation process. The number of processing tables depends on the input parameters. The tables include:

Description of variables in nonratio tables.
Variable Description
nhat Estimated proportion
nhat.var Variance estimate of estimated proportion
est Estimated acres { nhat * ACRES }
est.var Variance estimate of estimated acres { nhat * ACRES^2 }
Description of variables in nonratio tables.
Variable Description
nhat Estimated proportion of land, for numerator
nhat.var Variance estimate of estimated proportion of land, for numerator
dhat Estimated proportion of land, for denominator
dhat.var Variance estimate of estimated proportion of land, for denominator
covar Covariance of estimated proportion of numerator and denominator
estn Estimated acres, for numerator
estd Estimated acres, for denominator
estn.var Variance estimate of estimate acres, for numerator
estn.se Standard error estimated acres, for numerator
estn.cv Coeffiecient of variation of estimated acres, for numerator
estn.pse Percent sampling error of estimate, for numerator
estd.var Variance estimate of estimate acres, for denominator
estd.se Standard error estimated acres, for denominator
estd.cv Coefficient of variation of estimated acres, for denominator
estd.pse Percent sampling error of estimate, for denominator
est.covar Covariance of estimated acres of numerator and denominator
rhat Ratio of estimated proportions (numerator/denominator)
rhat.var Variance of ratio of estimated proportions
rhat.se Standard error of ratio of estimated proportions { rhat.se/rhat }
rhat.cv Coefficient of variation of ratio of estimated proportions { sqrt(rhat.var) }
est Estimated percent cover of land { rhat*100 }
est.var Variance of estimated percent cover of land { rhat.var*100^2 }
Description of variables in nonratio and ratio tables.
Variable Description
NBRPLT.gt0 Number of nonzero plots used in estimate
ACRES Total acres for estimation unit
est.se Standard error of estimated acres { sqrt(est.var) }
est.cv Coefficient of variation of estimated acres { est.se/est }
pse Percent sampling error of estimate { est.cv * 100 }
CI99left Left tail of 99% confidence interval for estimate { est - (2.58*est.se) }
CI99right Right tail of 99% confidence interval for estimate { est + (2.58*est.se) }
CI95left Left tail of 95% confidence interval for estimate { est - (1.96*est.se) }
CI95right Right tail of 95% confidence interval for estimate { est + (1.96*est.se) }
CI68left Left tail of 68% confidence interval for estimate { est - (0.97*est.se) }
CI68right Right tail of 68% confidence interval for estimate { est + (0.97*est.se) }

Reference Tables in FIESTA

There are several reference tables stored in FIESTA, including table variable descriptions, code definitions, and estimation categories.

getdomain() getestvar()