Product Description

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

The LANDFIRE (LF) fuels vegetation products describe the elements of fuels vegetation for each LF vegetation production unit. This product represents pre-disturbance fuels where disturbance has occurred over the last 10 years. Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH) represents a modified version of Existing Vegetation Height (EVH). LF 2016 Remap EVH is mapped as continuous estimates of canopy height for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms. To translate continuous EVH values into fuel model assignments, EVH values were binned to correspond with the bins for previous LF versions.

FVH was developed using the full suite of LF vegetation releases and the most recent ten years of disturbance data. FVH more accurately leverages fuel transition assignments related to disturbed areas to properly align with logic developed from Fuels Calibration Workshops.

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 FVH in the development of the fuel products.

 

FAQs

Does FVH represent current Fuels?

No, FVH represents pre-disturbance fuels before they are run through the LFTFC tools. For current fuels, look at CC, CH, CBH, CBD, and FBFM40 and FBFM13.

Product Description

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

The LANDFIRE (LF) fuels vegetation products describe the elements of fuels vegetation for each LF vegetation production unit. This product represents pre-disturbance fuels where disturbance has occurred over the last 10 years. Fuel Vegetation Cover (FVC) represents a modified version of Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). LF 2016 Remap EVC is mapped as continuous estimates of canopy cover for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms with a potential range from 0-100 percent. To translate continuous EVC values into fuel model assignments, EVC values were binned to correspond with the bins for previous LF versions.

FVC was developed using the full suite of LF vegetation releases and the most recent ten years of disturbance data. FVC more accurately leverages fuel transition assignments related to disturbed areas to properly align with logic developed from Fuels Calibration Workshops.

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 FVC in the development of the fuel products.

 

FAQs

Does FVC represent current Fuels?

No, FVC represents pre-disturbance fuels before they are run through the LFTFC tools. For current fuels, look at CC, CH, CBH, CBD, and FBFM40 and FBFM13.

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 Base Height (CBH) describes the average height from the ground to a forest stand's canopy bottom. Specifically, it is the lowest height in a stand at which there is enough forest canopy fuel to propagate fire vertically into the canopy. CBH unit measurements are meters * 10. These products are provided for forested areas only. Canopy Base Height (CBH) and Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) are calculated using the program FuelCalc designed by Elizabeth Reinhardt of the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. This program ingests plot data (including species, diameter at breast height (DBH), height, height to live crown, canopy cover, and trees per acres) and computes CBD using species-specific allometric relationships. CBH is assumed to equal the height at which CBD becomes 0.012 kg m3.

CBH first incorporated Annual Disturbance products during LF 2008 production. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned CBH 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.

CBH provides information for fire behavior models to determine areas in which a surface fire is likely to transition to a crown fire.

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 Bulk Density (CBD) describes the density of available canopy fuel in a stand. It is defined as the mass of available canopy fuel per canopy volume unit. CBD unit measurements are kg m3 * 100. These products are provided for forested areas only. Canopy Base Height (CBH) and Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) are calculated using the program FuelCalc designed by Elizabeth Reinhardt of the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. This program ingests plot data (including species, diameter at breast height (DBH), height, height to live crown, canopy cover, and trees per acres) and computes CBD using species-specific allometric relationships. CBH is assumed to equal the height at which CBD becomes 0.012 kg m3.

CBD first incorporated Annual Disturbance products during LF 2008 production. The introduction of this information allowed for informed changes to the assigned CBD 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.

CBD supplies information for fire behavior models, such as FARSITE, to determine the initiation and spread characteristics of crown fires across landscapes.

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.

The Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) defines a wildland fuelbed as the inherent physical characteristics of fuel that contribute to fire behavior and effects (Riccardi and others 2007). 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). 

A fuelbed can represent any scale or precision of interest, but in LANDFIRE, FCCS fuelbeds are assigned for each 30 meter pixel based on a crosswalk between the LANDFIRE Fuel Vegetation Type (FVT) and the closest match within the FCCS fuelbed reference library. The FCCS library contains 460 fuelbeds that were developed to represent the geospatial diversity of ecosystems and management activities across North America. Fuelbed values were compiled from published literature, fuels photo series, other fuels data sets and expert opinion.

• The Fire and Fuel Tools webtool (FFT online) allows users to search the FCCS fuelbed reference library and perform FCCS and Consume calculations to summarize fuelbed biomass and total aboveground carbon and to predict surface fire behavior, crown fire potentials, fuel consumption, and emissions based on day-of-burn inputs.  

The 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. To support disturbance transitions, FCCS disturbance fuelbeds were generated to represent the five major disturbances supported in LANDFIRE updates (See Fuel Disturbance Attribute Table). 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.

Historically, ruderal and developed FVT classifications were crosswalked to FCCS fuelbeds based on four regional climatic zones. For LF 2025 update, it was determined that a more appropriate scale to classify these FVTs would be based on LANDFIRE mapzones. In previous productions, the size of the regional climatic zones encompassed multiple ecoregions that spanned a variety of ecological variables. By switching to mapzone classification, FCCS resolution is increased nationally and correlates the FCCS fuelbeds to the climatology and forest types specifically represented within each mapzone. This finer scale allows for a greater diversity of fuelbeds across developed FVTs compared to previous productions. In addition to changes to the ruderal and developed classifications, existing crosswalks for each geoarea were reviewed and updated as needed.  

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 Seasonal Fuels 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.