USING MEASURED AND MODELLED WOOD QUALITY INFORMATION TO OPTIMISE HARVEST SCHEDULING AND LOG ALLOCATION DECISIONS

摘要

During pre-harvest assessment, wood quality information is measured with the software package ATLAS Cruiser. Various modelling methods are applied to this information to predict log yields for different stands, through time and under different cuttingstrategies. This yield information allows the scheduling component (ATLAS Market Supply) to find an optimal way of meeting the demand for logs of varying qualities from the available stands, given harvesting capabilities and transport distances. Assuming the issues arising from initial use of the system can be addressed, the indications are that the combined system of pre-harvest forest assessment and optimisation of harvesting and log allocation is able to characterise the resource in terms of wood qualities and provide the best match of logs to customer demands, thereby maximising the returns to both the grower and the processor.