Input Data Formats in FeNEU

2.1 Format 1

FeNEU’s own raw format. Column names are in English, with the German equivalents accepted as aliases (renamed silently before validation), and are case-insensitive. Format 1 reads three files – a tree list, an inventory-point file, and an optional small-tree file.

Tree list. One row per tree, both living and dead. Required:

Optional: age (alter, years – the stand age, stored redundantly per tree row; missing or incomplete age limits which analyses are possible and raises a warning on import), and tree_nr (baumnummer), which may be supplied but is never consumed – tree identification rests on the coordinates alone.

Inventory points. One row per plot. Required:

Optional: coord_sys (the coordinate reference system, one value for the whole file – otherwise given by the coord_sys argument), and survey_date (erfdat, of which only the year is kept – or the year is set directly with the inventory_year argument).

Small trees (optional file). Small trees are below the caliper threshold, often below breast height, and are recorded as un-located tally records. Required columns are plot_id, dbh (bhd), height (hoehe), species (baumart) and count (anzahl); layer and age are optional. Dedicated regeneration analyses are not available yet. Until they are, every small tree with a DBH greater than zero still enters the ordinary evaluations (it joins the regular tree records), while a record with dbh = 0 is carried in the small_trees slot for later.

The geometry of the concentric circles is not part of the field data – it belongs to the inventory design and must be supplied to the converter, as a pair of vectors giving the lower DBH threshold (cm) and the radius (m) of each circle, or as a circle-definition file (useful when the design varies across the inventory; see ?import_sample_concentric_format1_raw_to_pre). These radii determine every representation factor, so a wrong geometry scales every per-hectare figure. Example ex1 comes in Format 1; its design is dbh_cm_from = c(0, 12, 30, 48) with radiuses_m = c(2.82, 5.64, 11.28, 17.84):

raw1 <- system.file("extdata", "data_ex1_sample_raw", package = "FeNEU")
dir(raw1)
#> [1] "Baumschicht.txt" "Inv_punkt.txt"   "Verjuengung.txt"

pre1 <- file.path(tempdir(), "ex1_pre")

report1 <- import_sample_concentric_format1_raw_to_pre(
  input_path           = raw1,
  output_dir           = pre1,
  small_trees_filename = "Verjuengung",
  dbh_cm_from          = c(0, 12, 30, 48),
  radiuses_m           = c(2.82, 5.64, 11.28, 17.84),
  coord_sys            = "gk4",
  species_guess        = TRUE
)

report1$ok
#> [1] TRUE
dir(pre1)
#> [1] "fcbestku.txt" "fdinvba.txt"  "fdinvbhd.txt" "fdinvkrs.txt" "fdvikrs.txt"

species_guess = TRUE was used here because ex1 records species as text abbreviations rather than codes. It is a stopgap for real-world data: it resolves abbreviations against a reference list, and report1$species_mapping shows every resolution so it can be checked rather than trusted. Supplying the proper numeric codes is the recommended path.

2.2 Format 2

A multi-table export that defines nine source tables. This converter reads the two that carry the core inventory – the tree list (02_probekreis.txt) and the inventory-point / coordinate table (01_root_entity.txt), which are also the default file names. The remaining tables (tree properties, regeneration, dead wood) are not read yet.

Format 2 keeps its own native column names and encodes the same information as Format 1 in different units: DBH in millimetres, height in decimetres, distance in centimetres, and the tree position as a back azimuth whose unit is chosen per record.

Tree list (02_probekreis.txt). Required:

The azimuth unit is not fixed. pol_wink (degrees) is used when present; otherwise the back azimuth is read from the column that einheit_azimut declares – 1 means rueckazimut_gon (gon, converted to degrees), 2 means rueckazimut_grad (degrees). einheit_azimut is authoritative: if it does not match the populated column, the tree is treated as having no usable position rather than reading a value in the wrong unit.

The stand-layer code bestku differs from the BaySF coding and is remapped on import. The same number means different things in the two codings, so this matters:

Optional tree columns are alter_ba (stand age) and baumnummer (not consumed). Format 2 records living trees only; mortality is set to 0 for every record.

Inventory points (01_root_entity.txt). Required: koord, lage_probekreismittelpunkt_x / _y (plot-centre coordinates), and repfl (represented area, ha). Optional: date_created (survey date, year kept), lage_probekreismittelpunkt_srs (an EPSG declaration of the coordinate system, as the native export writes it), and neigung (slope, percent – absent in most Format-2 exports, in which case the slope defaults to 0 with a warning).

Example ex2 comes in Format 2; its points carry their own srs, so no coord_sys argument is needed. Its date_created uses a day-month-year format that cannot be read unambiguously, so we set the year directly with inventory_year – the argument that overrides the date column for exactly this case:

raw2 <- system.file("extdata", "data_ex2_sample_raw", package = "FeNEU")
dir(raw2)
#> [1] "01_root_entity.txt" "02_probekreis.txt"

pre2 <- file.path(tempdir(), "ex2_pre")

report2 <- import_sample_concentric_format2_raw_to_pre(
  input_path     = raw2,
  output_dir     = pre2,
  dbh_cm_from    = c(0, 12, 30),
  radiuses_m     = c(2, 6.31, 12.62),
  inventory_year = 2025
)

report2$ok
#> [1] TRUE
dir(pre2)
#> [1] "fcbestku.txt" "fdinvba.txt"  "fdinvbhd.txt" "fdinvkrs.txt" "fdvikrs.txt"

4.1 Raw: Silvarith style

import_standwise_relascope_format1_raw_to_pre() reads a Silvarith-style raw file – by default EingabedatenGesamt.txt – validates it, collecting every problem rather than stopping at the first, and writes the preprocessed WZP_Daten.txt. The Silvarith export is a German-locale file, with umlaut headers and DD.MM.YYYY dates; its decimals are written with a comma, though a point is read just as well. Each row represents a cohort of trees at one sample point in one stand, defined by species and stand layer. Required columns (after lower-casing the header):

Schicht codes the stand layer: 0 = main stand (Hauptschicht), 1 = harvest remnants (Nachhiebsreste), 2 = veterans (Überhälter) – 1 and 2 both fall into the remnant/veteran layer – and 3 = understorey (Unter-/Zwischenschicht).

The validation checks that BHD is non-negative, Schicht is in {0, 1, 2, 3}, and Stichtag parses; a height above 50 m raises a non-blocking warning. Example ex6 comes in this form:

raw6 <- system.file("extdata", "data_ex6_standwise_raw", package = "FeNEU")
dir(raw6)
#> [1] "EingabedatenGesamt.txt" "Inventuraufnahmen.txt"

pre6 <- file.path(tempdir(), "ex6_pre")

report6 <- import_standwise_relascope_format1_raw_to_pre(
  input_path = raw6,
  output_dir = pre6
)

report6$ok
#> [1] TRUE
dir(pre6)
#> [1] "WZP_Daten.txt"

The example folder also holds Inventuraufnahmen.txt; it is not needed yet and is reserved for future features.

4.2 Preprocessed: WZP_Daten.txt

WZP_Daten.txt is the canonical, ASCII / decimal-point form of the same columns. import_standwise_relascope_pre_to_fe_inventory() reads it and builds the fe_inventory of fe_stand plots. The package ships ex7 at this stage:

pre7 <- system.file("extdata", "data_ex7_standwise_pre", package = "FeNEU")
dir(pre7)
#> [1] "WZP_Daten.txt"

inv7 <- import_standwise_relascope_pre_to_fe_inventory(pre7)
inv7
#> # A tibble: 15 × 3
#>    plot_id        plot       area_rep_ha
#>  * <chr>          <list>           <dbl>
#>  1 1_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#>  2 1_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#>  3 2_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#>  4 2_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#>  5 3_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#>  6 3_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#>  7 4_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#>  8 4_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#>  9 5_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#> 10 5_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#> 11 6_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#> 12 6_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#> 13 7_9- 1- 0- - 1 <fe_stand>       0.887
#> 14 7_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654
#> 15 8_9- 3- 1- - 0 <fe_stand>       0.654