'University of Zagreb - University Computing Centre'
Abstract
A systematic literature review was settled to investigate the application of GIS in terms of
methods, complexity and accuracy to support decision on forestry operations and forest road
network planning. A comprehensive search for relevant studies was performed to retrieve as
many relevant international scientific publications dealing with forestry operations and forest
road network planning in the period 1996\u20132015.
The analysis was based on the development of a systematic literature review comprising three
steps:
\uf0de implementation of the database searches by well-defined search terms
\uf0de identification of all the publications meeting the requirements of the search terms by abstract
\uf0de choice of the most relevant publications analysis of the contents.
In this review, \ubbGIS and forest operations\uab includes all the descriptors dealing with GIS ap-
plied to support forest operations decision and analysis, while \ubbGIS and forest roads\uab includes
all the papers dealing with the analysis, management and planning of forest road or forest road
networks. A total of 372 references and 82 publications were selected for the analysis as they
were clearly in conformity with the review topics (GIS applications in forest operations and
road network planning).
The analysis showed that GIS has also been applied successfully and unambiguously to har-
vesting and transportation engineering in forest operations management. Further to the pre-
vailing use concerning applications to support tactical planning, a significant number of recent
publications have turned successfully to GIS applied at operational level. Again, despite the
prevailing use concerning applications to support tactical planning, a significant number of
recent publications have also turned successfully to GIS applied at operational level with the
topics of Forest Operations Management in terms of optimization, productivity and safety
analysis.
By considering the recent evolution and improvement of GIS technology and the increasing
availability of spatial data, as well their improvement in quality and resolution, the application
of GIS in forest harvesting and transportation engineering as well as in forest operations
management will expand in the near future