What coordinates are posted on the National FIA website data?
All publicly available coordinates are fuzzed and swapped. All annual plot coordinates are fuzzed within 0.5 miles for most plots and up to 1.0 mile on a small subset of them. This was done to make it difficult to locate the plot on the ground, while maintaining a good correlation between the plot data and map-based characteristics. Swapping plot location is due to the large size of some ownerships as the data could be linked to these owners. The original coordinates of up to 20% of the private plot coordinates are swapped with another similar private plot within the same county. Both of these procedures are done to protect private landowner rights as stipulated in the amendment of the Food Securities Act so that that FIA plot data cannot be linked to its owner.
