Conterminous United States Forecasted Fire Potential

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator:

USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation & Science (USGS EROS)

Publication_Date: Updated daily

Title: Conterminous United States Forecasted Fire Potential

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote sensing composite

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Sioux Falls, SD USA

Publisher: USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS)

Online_Linkage: <http://gisdata.usgs.net/website/IVM>

Description:

Abstract:

Satellite derived vegetation index maps of the contiguous United States have been available to fire managers since 1989. The basic data source for these maps is the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS) retrieves the satellite data daily, processes it and produces normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maps that indicate the quantity of actively photosynthesizing biomass on the landscape (Eidenshink 1992, Eidenshink 2006). Currently USGS EROS provides weekly updated maps. To make the NDVI more useful to fire managers, products have been developed to characterize the NDVI in terms of growing season status. Relative greenness maps indicate current vegetation greenness compared to a historically observed NDVI range. On relative greenness maps, any pixel appears fully green when the NDVI for that pixel reaches its maximum value, and fully cured when the NDVI reaches its minimum value. Thus, both dry (Nevada) and lush (Western Washington) areas can reach relative greenness values of 0 and 100 percent even though Nevada has much sparser vegetation than Western Washington. USGS EROS provides weekly updates of visual greenness, relative greenness, and departure from average greenness maps for wildland fire management use. Fire potential index maps are produced for the conterminous United States at 1-km resolution. The FPI model operates under the following assumptions: 1) fire potential can be assessed if the proportion of live/dead vegetation is defined; satellite derived vegetation greenness data (Burgan and Hartford 1993) provides a useful parameterization of this metric, 2) good estimates can be made of how close the dead fuel moisture is to the moisture of extinction, and 3) wind should not be included because it is transitory and difficult to estimate over large geographic areas. Inputs to the FPI map are 1) calculated dead fuel moistures (Fosberg and Deeming 1971; Fosberg 1971; Fosberg et al. 1981) are derived from the 7-day forecast weather variables extracted from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) produced by NOAA. The weather variables are temperature, humidity, precipitation, and cloud cover, 2) a dead fuel extinction moisture map to indicate dead fuel moisture contents at which fires are no longer expected to spread, 3) a maximum live ratio map to indicate the maximum proportion of living vegetation, which is assumed to have a high moisture content, and 4) weekly Relative Greenness (RG) maps (Burgan and Hartford 1993) to adjust the maximum live ratios for current conditions. The FPI algorithm has historically included estimation of only 10-hour timelag dead fuel moisture (FPI10), but it used this moisture to represent both 1- and 10-hour fuels, that is, fuel particles that are less than 1 inch [2.5 cm] in diameter. The general form of the FPI calculation is: FPI = (1.0 - deadfrac) * dr * 100.0 [1] where, deadfrac = (calculated 10-hr dead fuel moisture)/ (moisture of extinction) dr = the proportion of the vegetation that is dead. In the FPI10 model, deadfrac is calculated as a function of the 10-hour timelag fuel moisture, but in the FPI1000 model, deadfrac is calculated as a function of 10-, 100-, and 1000-hour fuel moistures, weighted according to the loading in each dead fuel size class.

Purpose:

The purpose of the forecasted fire potential map is to portray the potential for fire for the upcoming 7-days, given a source for ignition. Relative greenness relates only to the quantity of live vegetation that has relatively high moisture content. The moisture content of dead vegetation is also critical and is represented for small to large dead fuels by the 10-hour, 100-hour, and 1,000-hour fuel moisture. A combined assessment of both relative greenness and 10-hour fuel moisture is used for broad scale fire potential assessment. Additional research is underway to determine the strength of such a relationship. Fire potential values range from 0 to 100 percent, with highest values associated with greater potential for fire.

Supplemental_Information:

Spatial-specific information not available

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20010101

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate:-108.05851064

East_Bounding_Coordinate:-92.77659574

North_Bounding_Coordinate:37.48404255

South_Bounding_Coordinate:24.96808511

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: Raster digital data

Theme_Keyword: U.S. Geological Survey

Theme_Keyword: USGS

Theme_Keyword: GIS

Theme_Keyword: Fire Potential

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Category

Theme_Keyword: imageryBaseMapsEarthCover

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus:

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1995, Countries, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and their principal administrative divisions, Federal Information Processing Standard 10-4,): Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology

Place_Keyword: United States

Place_Keyword: U.S.

Place_Keyword: US

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus:

U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987, Codes for the identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the outlying areas of the United States, and associated areas (Federal Information Processing Standard 5-2): Washington, D.C., National Institute of Standards and Technology

Place_Keyword: Conterminous US

Place_Keyword: Lower 48

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Temporal_Keyword: 2001-Present

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS)

Contact_Position: Customer Service Representative

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 47914 252nd Street

Address: USGS EROS

City: Sioux Falls

State_or_Province: SD

Postal_Code: 57198-0001

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 605/594-6151

Contact_TDD/TTY_Telephone: 605/594-6933

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 605/594-6933

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: custserv@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600, CT M-F (-6h CST/-5h CDT GMT)

Contact_Instructions:

Technical point of contact is: Jeff Eidenshink PhD. Remote Sensing Scientist USGS EROS 47914 252nd Street Sioux Falls, SD 57198-9801 email: eidenshink@usgs.gov Phone: 605/594-6028 Fax: 605/594-6529

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.0.0.535

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report:

The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data used to produce the forecasted fire potential has been radiometrically calibrated, atmospherically corrected, screened for clouds, and geometrically registered as part of the conterminous United States weekly and biweekly AVHRR composites. The observed daily fuel moisture condition used in the calculation of the fire potential index is provided by the USFS Fire Science Laboratory in Missoula Montana

Completeness_Report: In progress

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: None

Quantitative_Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Assessment:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Value: 5 kilometers

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Explanation:

Precise georegistration positional accuracy of 1,000 meter RMSE requires correlation of image features with accurately registered cartographic or image-based maps. A common practice is to use cartographic sources such as Digital Chart of the World (DCW) or hydrography data to extract easily identifiable features such as coastlines, water bodies, and rivers and to correlate them with the matching raw image locations using various techniques. The correlation process determines specific adjustments to be applied to the time, roll, and yaw parameters of the orbital model. The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS) ADAPS system uses a variety of techniques, depending upon the geographic location of the imagery and the volume of data to be processed.

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

The forecasted fire potential calculation provides a meaningful representation of daily fire potential. The specific algorithm for producing fire potential maps is: FPI = (1.0 - deadfrac) * dr * 100.0 where: deadfrac = the ratio of the calculated 10-hr dead fuel moisture to the moisture of extinction dr = the proportion of the vegetation that is dead.

Process_Date: Unknown

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS)

Contact_Position: Customer Services Representative

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 47914 252nd Street

Address: USGS EROS

City: Sioux Falls

State_or_Province: SD

Postal_Code: 57198-0001

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 605/594-6151

Contact_TDD/TTY_Telephone: 605/594-6933

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 605/594-6589

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: custserv@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600, CT M-F (-6h CST/-5h CDT GMT)

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster

Raster_Object_Information:

Raster_Object_Type: Pixel

Row_Count: 2889

Column_Count: 4587

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS)

Contact_Position: Customer Services Representative

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 47914 252nd Street

Address: USGS EROS

City: Sioux Falls

State_or_Province: SD

Postal_Code: 57198-0001

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 605/594-6151

Contact_TDD/TTY_Telephone: 605/594-6933

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 605/594-6589

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: custserv@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600, CT M-F (-6h CST/-5h CDT GMT)

Contact_Instructions:

The USGS point of contact is for questions relating only to the data display and download from this web site. For questions regarding data content and quality, refer to the original metadata document.

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the USGS, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the USGS regarding the use of the data on any other system, nor does the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The USGS will warrant the delivery of this product in computer-readable format and will offer appropriate adjustment of credit when the product is determined unreadable by correctly adjusted computer input peripherals, or when the physical medium is delivered in damaged condition. Requests for adjustment of credit must be made within 60 days from the date of this shipment from the order site.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: Binary

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: <http://gisdata.usgs.net/website/IVM>

Access_Instructions:

Adequate computer capability is the only technical prerequisite for viewing data in digital form.

Fees: None

Turnaround: Variable

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20060223

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (USGS EROS)

Contact_Position: Customer Service Representative

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 47914 252nd Street

Address: USGS EROS

City: Sioux Falls

State_or_Province: SD

Postal_Code: 57198-0001

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 605/594-6151

Contact_TDD/TTY_Telephone: 605/594-6933

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 605/594-6589

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: custserv@usgs.gov

Hours_of_Service: 0800 - 1600 CT, M - F (-6h CST/-5h CDT GMT)

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Access_Constraints: None

Metadata_Use_Constraints: None

Metadata_Security_Information:

Metadata_Security_Classification_System: None

Metadata_Security_Classification: Unclassified

Metadata_Security_Handling_Description: None

Metadata_Extensions:

Online_Linkage: <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>

Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile