LandFire

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Product Description

Image showing colors for EVH in the upper north west corner of the US 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) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell.

Canopy height is generated separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data and other geospatial layers. EVH is determined by the average height weighted by species cover and based on the Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform.

Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, Landsat, and ancillary data are developed separately for each lifeform. Decision tree relationships are used to generate lifeform specific height class layers, which are merged into a single composite EVH layer.
Disturbance data is used to develop products for LANDFIRE Reference Database (LFRDB) plot filtering and to ensure that disturbances from recent years are included that were not visible in the source imagery.

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 EVH in several subsequent layers, including the development of the fuel products.

Existing Vegetation Height Resources

Attribute Data Table (CSV)

Attribute Data Dictionary (ADD)

Key EVH Attributes

VALUE

EVH is represented in meters and life forms are binned separately.

Developed-Upland Forest

5 classes of Developed-Upland Forest

Developed

7 classes of Developed vegetation

Developed-Roads

1 class of Developed Roads

NASS Crops

10 classes of NASS Crops

Tree Height

Tree Height in meters

Shrub Height

Shrub Height in meters

Herb Height

Herb Height in meters

Count

number of pixels for the corresponding value

Classnames

Display attribute, EVH is represented in meters and life forms are binned separately

LF Definitions, Quality, and Standards - provides information about contributors, metadata and data standards, data creation, and data testing. This document also provides details about our general data release process.

LF Dictionary - a “one-stop shop” general resource that provides information about products, Attribute Data Dictionaries (ADDs), data and metadata, and terms.

LF Version Comparison Table - view the version history for each individual product.

LF Naming Conventions - understanding the version number

The LANDFIRE image-based annual prototype: Detailed annual updates to vegetation maps for the United States using machine learning [pptx]

Detailed annual updates to vegetation maps for the US using machine learning [pptx]

Version Descriptions

Click on the version links below to learn more about each version of LANDFIRE.

Person standing in a fire blaze in the forest

Update

Update

Update

Update

Update (Archived)

Base Map

Base Map (Archived)

Data Approach

LF Publications and Related Materials
LF Methods
Quality Assessments
Comparing LANDFIRE Vegetation Type, Cover, and Height Across Versions
How LF users contribute to our approach

Data Use Recommendations

This section provides resources for appropriate applications and how to use LF products.

How can I use LANDFIRE
LANDFIRE YouTube Tutorials
How do I cite LANDFIRE Products
Fire Needs Assessment

Although LF products are delivered as 30-meter pixels, using individual or small groups of pixels is not recommended.

LF products are created to support national and regional strategic planning and strategic/tactical planning for large sub-regional landscapes and Fire Management Units (FMUs) such as significant portions of states or multiple federal administrative entities. The applicability of LF products to support fire and land management planning or smaller areas will vary by product, location, and specific use. Further investigation by local and regional experts should be conducted to inform decisions regarding local applicability. However, it is the responsibility of the local user, using LF metadata and local knowledge, to determine if and/or how LF can be used for particular areas of interest.

Managers and planners must evaluate LF products according to the scale and requirements specific to their needs (for example, habitat requirements for the species being considered or requirements by community leaders and interagency partners). LF products are not intended to replace local products, but rather serve as reference data by providing wall-to-wall cross-boundary products. It is the responsibility of the user to be familiar with the value, assumptions, and limitations of LF products.

base map:

is a comprehensive vegetation and fuels mapping effort of the LF product suite, this mapping uses satellite imagery and LFRDB plot data, for example: LF 2016 Remap

update:

a vegetation and fuels mapping effort using the base product suite to more accurately represent current conditions and account for landscape disturbances and succession, for example: LF 2024

Product Description

Image showing EVC colorations on the upper northwest corner of the U.S. 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) Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) represents the vertically projected percent cover of the live canopy layer for a 30-m cell.

EVC is generated separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous cover lifeforms using training data and other geospatial layers. Percentage tree, shrub, and herbaceous canopy cover training data are generated using plot-level ground-based visual assessments and lidar observations.

Once the training data are developed, relationships are then established separately for each lifeform between the training data and combination of Landsat and ancillary data. Each of the derived data layers (tree, shrub, herbaceous) has a potential range from 0-100 percent which are merged into a single composite EVC layer.
Disturbance data is used to develop LF products for LANDFIRE Reference Database (LFRDB) plot filtering and to ensure that disturbances from recent years are included that were not visible in the source imagery.

LF uses EVC in several subsequent layers, including the development of the fuel layers.

Existing Vegetation Cover Resources

Attribute Data Table (CSV)

Attribute Data Dictionary (ADD)

Key EVC Attributes

VALUE

Existing vegetation cover (EVC) depicts percent canopy cover by life form

Developed-Upland Forest Shrub

5 classes of Developed-Upland

Developed

3 classes of Developed vegetation

Developed-Roads

1 class of Developed Roads

NASS Crops

6 classes of NASS crops

Tree Cover

% of Tree Cover

Shrub Cover

% of Shrub Cover

Herb Cover

% of Herb Cover

Count

number of pixels for the corresponding value

Classnames

Display attribute. EVC has a potential range of 0 - 100 percent canopy cover

Red

Red color value range 0 - 1

Green

Green color value range 0 - 1

Blue

Blue color value range 0 - 1

LF Dictionary - a “one-stop shop” general resource that provides information about products, Attribute Data Dictionaries (ADDs), data and metadata, and terms.

LF Version Comparison Table - view the version history for each individual product.

LF Naming Conventions - understanding the version number

The LANDFIRE image-based annual prototype: Detailed annual updates to vegetation maps for the United States using machine learning [pptx]

Detailed annual updates to vegetation maps for the US using machine learning [pptx]

Plant in a dry ground. LANDFIRE (LF) existing vegetation layers describe the following elements: Existing Vegetation Type (EVT), Existing Vegetation Canopy Cover (EVC), and Existing Vegetation Height (EVH). These layers are created using predictive landscape models based on extensive field-referenced data, satellite imagery and biophysical gradient layers using classification and regression trees. LF potential vegetation layers describe the following elements: Biophysical Settings (BPS) and Environmental Site Potential (ESP). These layers are created using predictive landscape models based on extensive field-referenced data and biophysical gradient layers using classification and regression trees.

LF Team

Read more about LF Team

Homepage Cards

Read more about Homepage Cards

Homepage

Read more about Homepage

Homepage slideshow

Read more about Homepage slideshow

Overview

LANDFIRE is a shared interagency wildland fire management data program across the United States and Territories.  Leadership, management, and oversight are through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service - Fire and Aviation Management and the U.S. Department of the Interior – Office of Wildland Fire.

LANDFIRE provides more than twenty landscape-scale geospatial products of biological and ecological data, including data such as (900+) vegetation types and (13/40) fire behavior fuel models that support all-lands planning, fire and natural resources management, operations, analyses and assessments.

LF data characterize the current and historical states of vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and disturbances. LF produces a comprehensive, consistent, scientifically credible suite of more than 25 geospatial layers, a reference database, and a set of quantitative vegetation models at a national extent. LF data supports landscape assessments, analysis, and natural resource management. LF supplements and assists modeling of fire behavior and effects.

LF Technical Documentation
LF Dictionary
LF Definitions Quality and Standards Report
LF Impact Report
LF FactSheet
"How to Use LANDFIRE" Factsheet
How can you use LANDFIRE

LF is a multi-organizational program whose work is completed with the cooperation of several groups working together.

◆ U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Wildland Fire
◆ U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (USFS) Fire and Aviation Management
◆ U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
◆ The Nature Conservancy (TNC) North America Science Team
◆ USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS)
◆ USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)

LF Business and Technical Leads

Henry Bastian, DOI Business Lead	Nick Skowronski, USFS Business Lead
Jon Dewitz, USGS Project Manager	Jim Smith, TNC LF Project Lead
Marcine Hyser, TSSC Task Manager	Daryn Dockter, TSSC Technical Lead
Inga La Puma, USFS LF Program Lead	Tobin Smail, USFS Technical Lead

LF Team

Principal Partners: Department of the Interior (DOI) & USDA Forest Service (USFS)

Project Team: USGS EROS, EROS Technical Support Services Contract (KBR), The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service (Rocky Mountain Research Station) RMRS, and Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA)

Partners: USGS Gap Analysis, USGS National Land Imaging Program

LANDFIRE Background

The LANDFIRE (LF) Program began because of increased concern about the number, severity, and size of wildland fires and the need for consistent national biological/ecological inventory data. Over the past decade, LF data have become a critical piece to wildland fire and fuels treatment research, modeling, and planning tools as well as operational support for wildland fire management. LF data are crucial to fire modeling to support both operational decision making and fuels planning.

LF as a program produces national scale, spatial products that represents the best available contiguous data for the United States. LF data characterize the current states of vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and disturbances. Additional products include reference data, land management activities databases, and ecological models.

While many of the products are inputs to downstream LF products that are critical to wildland fire management (e.g. fuels, fire regimes), many of the upstream products (e.g. Existing Vegetation Cover and Height) are also valued as standalone products for natural resource managers and researchers. LF is an important suite of data beyond wildland fire management.

LF is a cornerstone of a fully integrated national data information framework developing and improving vegetation and fuels data products based on the best available authoritative data and science in an all lands landscape conservation approach based on inter-agency/inter-organizational collaboration and cooperation. LF is acknowledged for management excellence and effective mission delivery.

LF's mission is to provide agency leaders and managers with a common "all-lands" data set of vegetation and wildland fire/fuels information for strategic fire and resource management planning and analysis.

How it began

In 2000, the President directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to recommend how best to respond to severe wildland fires, reduce the impacts of fire on rural communities, and ensure sufficient firefighting capacity in the future. As a result, Congress directed development of the National Fire Plan, which precipitated LF, along with the creation of a National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy) addressing responses to wildfire, restoring and maintaining resilient landscapes, creating fire-adapted communities all based on a scientific foundation. LF is a shared program between the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior's wildland fire management bureaus under the direction of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC). LF produces a comprehensive, consistent, scientifically based suite of spatial layers and databases for the entire United States and territories.

In 2001, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported,
"Federal land management agencies do not have adequate data for making informed decisions and measuring the agencies' progress in reducing fuels."

In 2002, GAO reported,
"Data are not available to better prioritize communities and projects for funding" and "On the basis of our review, LANDFIRE is the only proposed research project so far that appears capable of producing consistent national inventory data for improving the prioritization of fuel projects and communities." (GAO-02-259)

LF started with a prototype in 2002 and was officially chartered in 2004 by WFLC. LF marked its 10th year in 2014 and its 15th year in 2019. View the LF informational video.

LANDFIRE delivering data for over 20 years

In 2004, the Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) signed the charter that launched LF - an innovative effort considered critical to natural resource and fire management programs. The USDA Forest Service and the Department of the Interior fund LF. Principle production partners are the U.S. Geological Survey, Forest Service, and The Nature Conservancy; other partners include the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. New partners and collaboration contribute to the program's success, and partnerships are continually being formed.

Since its inception, LF's application has extended beyond its original intent of natural resources and fire management support. LF applications now include those involving climate change research, carbon sequestration planning, habitat analysis and protection, state forest assessments and more.

In 2017, LANDFIRE was awarded the Department of the Interior Environmental Achievement Awards - "Environmental Dream Team" award.

How it began

LF started with a prototype in 2002 and was officially chartered in 2004 by WFLC. LF marked its 10th year in 2014 and its 15th year in 2019. View the LF informational video.

LANDFIRE delivering data for over 20 years

In 2017, LANDFIRE was awarded the Department of the Interior Environmental Achievement Awards - "Environmental Dream Team" award.

Product Description

Attribute Tables (CSV, ADD)

Key EVH Attributes

Metadata (XML)

Supplemental Information

Scale and Use of LANDFIRE Products

LF delivers two types of data releases

Product Description

Attribute Tables (CSV, ADD)

Key EVC Attributes

Metadata (XML)

Supplemental Information

Current Vegetation

Modeled Vegetation

Vegetation Classes

LF Team

Homepage Cards

Homepage

Homepage slideshow

What We Do

Who We Are

LF Business and Technical Leads

LF Business and Technical Leads

LANDFIRE Partners

Our Products

Our Vision

Our Mission

LANDFIRE Program History