Control of sampling error and measurement error in a horizontal point cruise

A horizontal point cruise for basal area was conducted to develop the functional relationship between measurement error and the time allowed to measure a prism point. With this information, it was then possible to design for subsequent inventories a survey that was optimal in respect to the total survey time, given a desired level of precision of the estimated mean basal area. It was shown that using traditional techniques for estimating sample size will not provide an optimal design, if measurement error does exist and is controllable. When designing a forest survey, a great deal can be gained by explicitly accounting for measurement error, as well as sampling error.