Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

LANDFIRE's (LF) Forest Canopy Height (CH) describes the average height of the top of the vegetated canopy. CH measurement units are meters * 10 and extracted from Existing Vegetation Height (EVH). CH is assigned the midpoint of the EVH forested classes at non-disturbed locations. These products are provided for forested areas only.

CH first incorporated Annual Disturbance products during LF 2008 production. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned CH from disturbance type, severity, and time since the disturbance.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

Used in the calculation of Canopy Bulk Density and Canopy Base Height, CH supplies information to fire behavior models to provide input in the spotting model and calculate wind reductions.

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

LANDFIRE's (LF) Forest Canopy Cover (CC) describes the percent cover of the tree canopy in a stand. Specifically, canopy cover describes the vertical projection of the tree canopy onto an imaginary horizontal surface representing the ground's surface. At non-disturbed locations, CC is assigned the midpoint of the Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) forested classes. These products are provided for forested areas only.

CC first incorporated Annual Disturbance products during LF 2008 production. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned CC from disturbance type, severity, and time since the disturbance.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

Used in the calculation of Canopy Bulk Density and Canopy Base Height, CC supplies information to fire behavior models to determine the probability of crown fire initiation, provide input in the spotting model, calculate wind reductions, and calculate fuel moisture conditioning.

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

LANDFIRE (LF) disturbance products are developed to provide temporal and spatial information related to landscape change. Fuel Disturbance (FDist) uses the latest 10 years of Annual Disturbance products representing disturbance year and original disturbance code. FDist was a refinement of Vegetation Disturbance (VDist) in LF 1.x products and is a refinement of Historical Disturbance (HDist) in LF 2016 Remap to more accurately represent disturbance scenarios within the fuels environment. FDist development involves a comprehensive review of disturbance attributes.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

LF uses FDist in the development of Fuels products.

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) defines a fuelbed as the inherent physical characteristics of fuel that contribute to fire behavior and effects (Riccardi and others 2007). A fuelbed can represent any scale or precision of interest. In FCCS, fuelbeds represent the structure and composition of wildland fuels and can accommodate a wide range of fuel characteristics in six horizontal fuel layers called strata (Ottmar and others 2007).

FCCS summarizes and classifies wildland fuel characteristics and can also be used to predict surface fire behavior, crown fire potential and available fuel for estimating consumption, fire effects, and emissions.

• FCCS reference fuelbeds represent fuels throughout much of North America and were compiled from published literature, fuels photo series, other fuels data sets and expert opinion.
• The LANDFIRE (LF) fuels team collaborated with the Fire and Environmental Research Applications (FERA) team of the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station on the FCCS product.
• FCCS fuel beds have been mapped in LF and are preloaded in the Fuel and Fire Tools (FFT) application.

The fundamental component of the FCCS, the fuelbed, is the mapping unit in the FCCS. The LF FCCS is delivered with attributes summarized from the FCCS calculator for each fuelbed, including name and fuel loading information in tons per acre. This information can be used for fire behavior and fire effects estimations.

Consume Input Tables are formatted for use in the Consume 4.2 calculator embedded in the FFT software. Fuel loading units are in tons per acre and can be used in the command line version of Consume. This table can be used in conjunction with the LF FCCS layers in a mapping program, and be cross walked via the FCCSID in column B.

First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM) Input Tables provide fuel loading values summarized for use in the general FOFEM calculator. The file is not formatted for use in the FOFEM batch feature in the program. Fuel loading units are tons per acre and with additional fuel moisture and site descriptors this file can be adapted to work in the FOFEM batch function. This table can be used in conjunction with the LF FCCS layers in a mapping program, and be cross walked via the FCCSID in column B.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

FCCS Disturbance Transition Database

• LF 2016 Remap
• LF 2020 Update
• LF 2023 Update

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) depicts fuel types "as an identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, arrangement, and continuity that will exhibit characteristic fire behavior under defined burning conditions". The CFFDRS arranges fuel types into five major groups with 16 discrete fuel types that are qualitatively distinguished by variations in their forest floor and organic layer, surface, and ladder fuels, and stand structure and composition.

The CFFDRS assignments for Alaska were made by fire behavior and fuels experts based on Existing Vegetation Type descriptions and representative photos.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

The CFFDRS product is currently produced for Alaska only.

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

40 Scott and Burgan Fire Behavior Fuel Model (FBFM40) represents distinct distributions of fuel loading found among surface fuel components (live and dead), size classes, and fuel types. This set contains more fuel models in every fuel type (grass, shrub, timber, slash) than Anderson's set of 13. The number of fuel models representing relatively high dead fuel moisture content increased, and fuel models with an herbaceous component are now dynamic, meaning that loads shift between live and dead (to simulate curing of the herbaceous component) rather than remaining constant.

LANDFIRE's (LF) FBFM40 was evaluated through a series of workshops held across the nation with fire and fuels specialists. Workshop participants reviewed and adjusted surface fuel model rulesets using unique combinations of Existing Vegetation Type (EVT), Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), Existing Vegetation Height (EVH), and in some cases Biophysical Setting (BPS).

Annual Disturbance products were first incorporated into fuel production during LF 2008. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned fuel models from disturbance type, severity, and time since the disturbance.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

Modeling Dynamic Fuels with an Index System (MoD-FIS) - refined FBFM40 classification based upon current estimates of FBFM40 from Landsat imagery for the current growing season. Where available, LF recommends using MoD-FIS data for fire behavior modeling in prescribed burn plans and during wildfires as this data reflects more current fuel conditions. For risk assessments, users should look to the Fire Behavior Fuel Model 40 annual releases which represent fuel condition averages for a fire season.

Product Description

This page includes a general description of the product, please consult the schedule and version pages for information specific to each release.

These original 13 standard fire behavior fuel models serve as input to Rothermel's surface fire behavior and spread model. LANDFIRE's (LF) 13 Anderson Fire Behavior Fuel Model (FBFM13) represents distinct distributions of fuel loading found among surface fuel components (live and dead), size classes, and fuel types. The fuel models are described by the most common fire-carrying fuel type (grass, brush, timber litter, or slash), loading and surface area-to-volume ratio by size class and component, fuelbed depth, and moisture of extinction.

FBFM13 was evaluated through a series of workshops held across the nation with fire and fuels specialists. Workshop participants reviewed and adjusted surface fuel model rulesets using unique combinations of Existing Vegetation Type (EVT), Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), Existing Vegetation Height (EVH), and in some cases Biophysical Settings (BPS).

Annual Disturbance products were first incorporated into fuel production during LF 2008. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned fuel models from disturbance type, severity, and time since the disturbance.

LF 2016 Remap and beyond includes a 90-kilometer buffer along the 1,500 miles of the eastern and southern borders AK shares with Canada. Then with the LF 2020 update, and future updates, for the Conterminous United States (CONUS) a 90-kilometer buffer into Mexico is also included.

Product Description

Vegetation Departure (VDep) indicates how different current vegetation on a landscape is from estimated past modeled conditions. VDep is based on changes to vegetation composition, structural stage, and canopy closure using methods originally described in the Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook, but is not identical to those methods and should not be considered as a replacement data set. LANDFIRE (LF) VDep is based only on departure of current vegetation conditions from reference vegetation conditions, whereas the Guidebook approach includes departure of current fire regimes from those of the reference period.

VDep, a landscape metric, is scale dependent. Every pixel in a unique biophysical settings (BpS) in a summary unit has the same VDep value. These large landscape values may not represent smaller areas within a summary unit.

The VDep metric ranges from 0 - 100 and is based on 4 factors. These inputs are held constant within a single version of LF, but can be different across LF versions, which directly impacts VDep comparability across versions. VDep can be compared across versions but caution is advised.

VDep Factors

• LF Mapped Current Conditions (SClass)
• Estimated Reference Conditions
• Included Types
• Landscape Summary Unit

FAQs

Are VCC and/or VDep the same as FRCC?

Vegetation Condition Class (VCC) and Vegetation Departure (VDep) are the same data that was previously called Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) and Fire Regime Departure Index (DEP). According to the FRCC Guidebook, FRCC was an interagency tool used to determine the degree of ecological departure from historical, or reference condition, vegetation, fuels, and disturbance regimes. FRCC, a combination of vegetation departure, fire frequency, and severity departure, were measures of vegetation departure, hence the name change.

Why did the layer name change from FRCC to VCC and VDep?

LANDFIRE (LF) never delivered "full" FRCC product, even when the product carried that name, so it was renamed to reduce confusion.

FRCC is composed of two elements: Vegetation Departure and Fire Regime Departure. LF produced and delivered the first component of FRCC (Vegetation Departure) because LF had no consistent way to estimate Fire Regime Departure over the entire geography. Therefore, the product was renamed VCC since it is a more appropriate and descriptive name. VCC is just the current VDep product sliced into categories.

Refer to Succession Class (SClass), VDep and VCC metadata in each LF version for more information.

Note: VDep is not always created for all extents and/or all versions of LF. See the schedule page to learn more about each version.

Product Description

The Succession Classes (SClass) product characterizes current vegetation conditions with respect to the vegetation species composition (leaf-form and life-form, primarily), cover, and height ranges of the successional states that occur within each Biophysical Settings (BPS). SClass can also represent uncharacteristic vegetation components, including exotic species, tree plantations, canopy cover, etc. These components are not found within the compositional or structural variability of successional states defined for a BPS. Succession Classes do not directly quantify fuel characteristics of the current vegetation, but rather represent vegetative states with unique succession or disturbance related dynamics, such as structural development or fire frequency.

To produce SClass, mapping rules defined by local and regional experts during the original development and subsequent review of each BPS are applied to the relevant current vegetation layers. 

 

Note:   SClass is not always created for all extents and/or all versions of LF. See the schedule page to learn more about each version.