LANDFIRE 2023 Forest Canopy Base Height (CBH) Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands
Dates
Publication Date
2024-12-18
Time Period
2023
Citation
Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE), 2024, LANDFIRE 2023 Update (LF 2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BJP7OV.
Summary
LANDFIRE's 2023 Update (LF 2023) Forest Canopy Base Height (CBH) supplies information used in fire behavior models to determine the critical point at which a surface fire will transition to a crown fire in conjunction with other environmental factors (such as wind speed and moisture content). CBH data is continuous from 0 to 9.9 meters (to the nearest 0.1m) and describe the lowest point in a stand where there is enough available fuel (0.25in diameter) to propagate fire vertically through the canopy. Critical CBH is defined as the lowest point at which the Forest Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) is .012kg m-3. Under different scenarios of disturbance and based on previous research incorporating plot-level CBH calculations, CBH for disturbed [...]
Summary
LANDFIRE's 2023 Update (LF 2023) Forest Canopy Base Height (CBH) supplies information used in fire behavior models to determine the critical point at which a surface fire will transition to a crown fire in conjunction with other environmental factors (such as wind speed and moisture content). CBH data is continuous from 0 to 9.9 meters (to the nearest 0.1m) and describe the lowest point in a stand where there is enough available fuel (0.25in diameter) to propagate fire vertically through the canopy. Critical CBH is defined as the lowest point at which the Forest Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) is .012kg m-3. Under different scenarios of disturbance and based on previous research incorporating plot-level CBH calculations, CBH for disturbed areas is determined via a set of linear equations relating Forest Canopy Height (CH) and Cover (CC) to CBH. Linear equations for these calculations are derived from Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) scenario outputs. To designate disturbed areas where CBH is modified, the aggregated Annual Disturbance products from 2014 to 2023 in the LF Fuel Disturbance (FDist) product are used. All existing disturbances between 2014-2023 are represented in LF 2023, and the products are intended to be used in 2024 (the year of release). When using any product from the LF 2023 fuel product suite, users should consider adjusting fuel layers for disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year (after October 1st, 2023). Disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year are not accounted for within LF 2023 fuel products. Learn more about LF 2023 at https://landfire.gov/data/lf2023.
The LF 2023 Update (LF 2023, version 240) is the fourth update to LANDFIRE’s new base map LF 2016 Remap (version 200) and will be releasing throughout calendar year 2024. LF 2023 products are designed to facilitate national and regional level strategic fire and resource management planning and reporting of management activities. The principal purposes of the products include providing: 1) national level landscape scale geospatial products to support fire and fuels management planning and 2) consistent fuels products to support fire planning, analysis, and budgeting to evaluate fire management alternatives. Products are created at a 30meter raster; however, the applicability of products varies by location and specific use. LF products were designed to support 1) national (all states) strategic planning, 2) regional (single large states or groups of smaller states), and 3) 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 on smaller areas will vary by product, location, and specific use. Managers and planners must evaluate LF products according to the scale and requirements specific to their needs.