STRATUM Data Collection and Analysis: Baltimore

Baltimore’s 2007 Sample Survey

Background TreeBaltimore Why a survey? Why a sample? Why iTree?

Baltimore’s 2007 Sample Survey

Partners & Division of Labor Baltimore City Department of Recreation & Parks

(TreeBaltimore & Forestry) Training & equipment

Baltimore City Department of Planning Technical, data review, QA/QC

Parks & People Foundation Volunteer management & project logistics

Baltimore’s 2007 Sample Survey

Timeline Planning began in April Training occurred in June Surveying occurred throughout July QA/QC began mid-way through

surveying and is wrapping up now

Baltimore’s 2007 Sample Survey

Survey Structure Random selection of 500 sample blocks

PDA vs. Paper Paper option served as a backup

Using in concert with a GPS in the field No benefit when sampling

Baltimore’s 2007 Sample Survey

Logistical Structure City divided into five sections Volunteers put in groups of two or three

Partners changed frequently Schedules produced on a weekly basis Parks & People office was the hub for volunteer

check in and out

Working With Volunteers

Pools of interested volunteers Utilized contact and distribution lists of

all partners Expectations and time commitments Volunteer expertise

Tree Identification PDAs Knowledge of Baltimore streets

Working With Volunteers

Training Four hour training prior to surveying Some additions/revisions added Could have had more extensive

mentoring during beginning of survey period

Volunteer support materials

Analysis

Data Quality As function of training QA/QC during and after data collection

Inputting data into STRATUM

Lessons Learned

Things you won’t find in the manual Logistics Weather concerns Safety iTree database setup

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned The danger of the two sided dbh tape Spend more time on design & planning Be in touch w/volunteers in the field Start QA/QC early No need for dividing city into sections Better tracking of block assignments for QA/QC Pre-testing, pre-testing, pre-testing

Helpful Hints

Some helpful tips T-shirts – good to have something to identify

surveyors Equip surveyors with info about project Prioritize what information needs to be collected Plan to complete more surveying than needed Thank your volunteers!