makeClasses: Convert numeric variables to class intervals (factor)

In rFIA: Estimation of Forest Variables using the FIA Database

Description

Convert continuous numeric variables to class intervals with output as factor or numeric classes. Simplified implementation of cut. Example uses include computing diameter or height classes for summarization with rFIA functions (e.g. tpa, biomass).

Usage

makeClasses(x, interval = NULL, lower = NULL, upper = NULL,
            brks = NULL, numLabs = FALSE)

Arguments

x	numeric vector to be converted to factor (class intervals).
interval	numeric; interval of desired output classes. e.g. specify x = DIA and interval = 2 for 2-inch diameter class intervals.
lower	lower bound of output classes, included in lowest class. e.g. [lower, ...).
upper	upper bound of output classes, NOT included in highest class. e.g. [..., upper).
brks	numeric vector of desired breakpoints (bounds) of class intervals.
numLabs	logical; if TRUE, return class intervals as numeric vector with values representing the lower bounds of each interval. If FALSE, return factor with labels of form '[b1, b2)'.

Value

Factor or integer vector. Factor values represent class intervals with [b1, b2) notation, values of integer vectors represent the lower bounds of class intervals (e.g. b1).

Author(s)

Hunter Stanke and Andrew Finley

See Also

clipFIA

Examples

## Load data from the rFIA package
data(fiaRI)

## Compute Diameter Classes on 1-inch intervals for each tree in TREE table ----
# Factor w/ interval labels
makeClasses(fiaRI$TREE$DIA, interval = 1)
# Numeric w/ lower bound of each class as returned value
makeClasses(fiaRI$TREE$DIA, interval = 1, numLabs = TRUE)

## Compute Stand Age Classes on 20 year intervals for each
## condition in COND table ----
# NOTE: Unrecorded stand age recorded as -999, replace negative values with NA
fiaRI$COND$STDAGE[fiaRI$COND$STDAGE < 0] <- NA
makeClasses(fiaRI$COND$STDAGE, interval = 25)

## Compute Stand Stocking Classes (10%) for all live (ALSTK),
## and growing stock (GSSTK) in COND table ----
makeClasses(fiaRI$COND$ALSTK, interval = 10) # All Live
makeClasses(fiaRI$COND$GSSTK, interval = 10) # Growing Stock

## Compute % Slope Classes (20%) for each condition in COND table ----
makeClasses(fiaRI$COND$SLOPE, interval = 20)

rFIA documentation built on Dec. 16, 2021, 1:07 a.m.