Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
unavailable in appropriate input forms. To remedy this problem in the U.S., the
national LANDFIRE project was initiated to assure that the fire community had
access to consistently mapped, fire modeling and fire ecology data.
3.5.3 LANDFIRE, National Level Data
One of the more bold and interesting geotechnical projects in the last few years is
the LANDFIRE project (Rollins
2009
). This project has developed a set of 25 data
layers. Each of these layers is available for the entire U.S. as raster data with a 30
m pixel resolution. The data can be downloaded from the National Map Program at
http://landfire.cr.usgs.gov/viewer
.
This multi agency effort has used TM satellite imagery in coordination with
groups of regional experts to create a regionally calibrated national data set. The
LANDFIRE project and the resulting data sets provide a remarkable number of
raster data sets that are already spatially aligned and developed specifically for spa-
tial analysis of wildland fire and other ecological issues. Working at this national
scale requires considerable effort and numerous technical problems and issues are
inevitable (Aplet and Wilmer
2003
; Provencher et al.
2009
). The resulting data sets
are controversial and many users are still trying to develop locally derived data.
But for a majority of the U.S., these data sets represent the only fire regime data
available, and at a national level this data represents a remarkable opportunity to
do broad scale analyses. Extensive information about this project is available at
http://www.landfire.gov
. This website explains:
LANDFIRE, also known as the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools
Project, is a five-year, multi-partner project producing consistent and comprehensive maps
and data describing vegetation, wildland fuel, and fire regimes across the United States. It
is a shared project between the wildland fire management programs of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior.
The website above offers extensive metadata for all 25 data sets, including what
each layer represents and how they were developed. Many of these data sets were
developed using computationally intense ecological models incorporating a compli-
cated mix of satellite data and expert opinion. The list of outputs from this project
include nine fire behavior products, eight fire regime products, six vegetation data
products, and two fire effects data products (Table
3.1
).
The bold scope of this project is clear from this extensive list of data products.
The LANDFIRE project is also planned to continuously refine and update the data
sets for perpetuity. If these data sets prove to be adequate for the uses to which they
are put, this collection of spatial data will radically alter the range of questions that
can be asked in wildland fire and WUI research throughout the country. Similar
programs in other countries will also be watching the LANDFIRE project to assess
their own data programs. Ultimately LANDFIRE represents a breakthrough in data
uniformity and access. It remains to be seen to what degree the wildland fire research
and spatial analysis community embrace these data sets.
