A staging area is a location where organisms, people, vehicles, equipment or material are assembled before use.

In construction

A staging area is a designated area where vehicles, supplies, and construction equipment are positioned for access and use to a construction site.

In ecology

The resting and feeding places of migratory birds

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 are referred to as staging areas.

In entertainment

Staging areas are an area designated for setting up parades and other elaborate presentations.

In the military

In military uses, a staging area is a place where troops or equipment in transit are assembled or processed.
The US Department of Defense uses these definitions:

Often and historically this military staging area has been termed a point d'appui

Point d'appui

A point d'appui, in military theory, is a location where troops are assembled prior to a battle. Often a monument is erected to commemorate the point d'appui for notable battles...

, which point is often on high ground and sometimes coincident with a significant prehistoric monument, as in the case of Catto Long Barrow

Catto Long Barrow

Catto Long Barrow is a prehistoric site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site is known locally as Cairn Catto. The extant monument extends for a length of 49 metres.-References:* United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map 1:50,000 scale, Landranger series...

 in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Unlike normal bases, the facilities of a staging area are temporary, mainly because for a certain time it will hold much more troops and material than would be reasonable in peacetime.

Militaries use staging areas to deploy military units, aircraft and warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

s plus their materiel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

 ahead of an attack or invasion

Invasion

An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...

. In former times this used to be generally the border area of one's own country, but in recent wars (Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, Kosovo War

Kosovo War

The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...

, Iraq War) it may also be the border area of another unrelated country granting access.

In incident management

Staging areas are established for temporary location of available emergency responder resources. A Staging Area can be any location in which personnel, supplies, and equipment can be temporarily housed or parked while awaiting operational assignment. Staging Areas may include temporary feeding, fueling, and sanitation services for emergency crews like Wildland firefighters or Ground Search and Rescue.

Staging areas are established by the Operations Section Chief to enable positioning of and accounting for resources not immediately assigned. The Operations Section Chief assigns a manager for each Staging Area, who checks in all incoming resources, dispatches resources at the Operations Section Chief’s request, and requests Logistics Section Support, as necessary, for resources located in the Staging Area.

Personnel check in with the Resources Unit at the Staging Area, while supplies and equipment are checked in with the Supply Unit. If neither of these functions is activated, resources report to the Staging Area Manager for direction.

In space exploration

In space exploration, the area where final assembly is done on space vehicles before they are moved out to their launch pad

Launch pad

A launch pad is the area and facilities where rockets or spacecraft lift off. A spaceport can contain one or many launch pads. A typical launch pad consists of the service and umbilical structures. The service structure provides an access platform to inspect the launch vehicle prior to launch....

.

In data warehouse

In Data warehouse terms, a data staging area is an intermediate storage area between the sources of information and the data warehouse (DW) or Data mart (DM). It is usually of temporary nature, and its contents can be erased after the DW/DM has been loaded successfully.