Geospatial Data

Fire History Polygons for Northern Rockies - 1889 - 2003

Fire History Polygons for Northern Rockies - 1889 - 2003

 

Metadata:

Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator:
Carly E Gibson, Graduate Student/University of Idaho, Department of Forest Resources
Publication_Date: June 1, 2005
Title: Fire History Polygons for Northern Rockies - 1889 - 2003
Edition: first
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Other_Citation_Details:
This coverage was developed from data provided by one or more of the following in fall 2004: Brett Davis, GIS Analyst; RMRS Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute; Jim Fears, GIS Coordinator, Bitterroot National Forest; Carey Christ, Fuels GIS, Boise National Forest; Ed Lozar, GIS, Clearwater National Forest; Vangie Wolfe, GIS, Flathead National Forest; Lonnie Newton, AFMO, Idaho Panhandle National Forest; Dan Rose, Fire and Fuels Planner, Kootenai National Forest; John Anderson, GIS Coordinator, Lolo National Forest; Dave Green, GIS, Nez Perce National Forest; Mickey Pillars, Fire GIS, Payette National FOrest; Henry Logsdon, GIS Coordinator, Salmon-Challis National Forest; Judy Warick, Fire GIS, Caribou-Targhee National Forest; Jill Kuenzi, GIS, Sawtooth National Forest; Richard Menicke, GIS Coordinator, Glacier National Park; Jim Napoli, GIS, Yellowstone National Park.
Online_Linkage: https://fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsp5_030609.zip
Description:
Abstract:
This coverage includes fire perimeters recorded in polygon coverages acquired from National Parks and National Forests described in 'citation'.
Purpose:
This data set was developed to compile all digitally documented fire perimeters on federal lands located in the northern Rocky Mountain region to identify regional fire years and assess the relationship between those years and various climate indicies.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1889
Beginning_Time: unknown
Ending_Date: 2003
Ending_Time: unknown
Currentness_Reference: Up to fire year 2003
Status:
Progress: In work
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Continually
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -117.905081
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -109.466585
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49.258000
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.705877
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus:
REQUIRED: Reference to a formally registered thesaurus or a boundary
Theme_Keyword: fire, firy history, fire perimeter
Theme_Keyword: Wild and Prescribed Fire and Fuels
Place:
Place_Keyword: northern Rocky Mountain region, Idaho, west Montana, NE Wyoming
Access_Constraints:
This data set was produced using Joint Fire Science funds and is available upon request.
Use_Constraints:
This data set was generated from a diverse collection of USFS and NPS coverages of unknown spatial and temporal accuracy. This data set is provided 'as is' without guarantees in terms of quality or accuracy. Future users are expected to take responsability for the assumed precision and appropriatness of this data set for any and all application. Under no circumstances shall the creator be assumen liable for any damages resulting from the use or incapacity to use this data set. Users will assume all responsability for determining the appropriateness of these data to their needs.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Carly E Gibson (Dr. Penny Morgan)
Contact_Organization:
University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, Department of Forest Resources
Contact_Position: Graduate Student (Advisor)
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
Address: P.O. Box 441133
City: Moscow
State_or_Province: Idaho
Postal_Code: 83844-1133
Country: USA
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gibs0636@uidaho.edu
Contact_Instructions:
If Carly Gibson is unavailable, please contact her advisor Dr. Penny Morgan. These data will likely be stored at the University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, Remote Sensing Laboratory after spring 2006.
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 4; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.0.1324

Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
Attribute information is as acurate as possible considering the available data used to create this coverage. Human errors in mapping and digitizing fire perimeters, and/or process steps taken to create this coverage possibly contributes to data set inaccuracies.
Quantitative_Attribute_Accuracy_Assessment:
Attribute_Accuracy_Value: atlas_source
Attribute_Accuracy_Explanation: Considered entirely accurate.
Quantitative_Attribute_Accuracy_Assessment:
Attribute_Accuracy_Value: fire_year
Attribute_Accuracy_Explanation:
Human error likely results in variable annually accuracy. This may be especially true for fire perimeter generated from aerial photo stand age interpretation (pre-1930s in most cases).
Logical_Consistency_Report:
Data acqiured from various sources were inconsistent in projection, attribution, temporal representation, scale, physical location, form of GIS, and completedness. Frequently single fires were represented by multiple sources and as conflicting perimeters. See 'process step' for methods used to resolve conflicting data.

Visual inspection of topology and attributes, comparison to original source data, and REGIONCLEAN command in ArcINFO were used to confirm topological intergity of the final coverage.

Completeness_Report:
This data set is as complete as the source data which it is based on. For each source land management agency, temporal variation is as follows:

Bitterroot National Forest 1889 - 2003 Boise National Forest 2000 - 2003 Caribou-Targhee National Forest 1988, 1994, 2000, 2002 Clearwater National Forest 1889 - 2003 Flathead National Forest 1984 - 2003 Idaho Panhandle National Forest 1889 - 1987 Kootenai National Forest 1911 - 2003 Lolo National Forest 1889 - 2003 Nez Perce National Forest 1889 - 2003 Payette National Forest 1944 - 2003 Salmon-Challis National Forest 1889 - 2003 Sawtooth National Forest 1953 - 2003 Glacier National Park 1973 - 2003 Yellowstone National Park 1889 - 2003 Frank Church Area Fire Atlas 1889 - 2003

The intention of illustrating temporal range of source data is not intended as an implication that all fires occuring on these lands are detected and mapped. Several factors may explain perimeters incorporated in this record (e.g. fire perimeter was easily mapped from an aerial vantage point, fire occurred in an area of management interest, etc.), as well as exclusion from this record (e.g. undetected fires in remote locations, limited resources, etc.). Similarly, minimum mapping unit varies by source and, in most cases, did not exceed 100 acres (see Frank Church Area Fires for more information). Likewise, minimum mapping units have changed through time and are currently less than 50 acres for all sources.

Since I have visually checked each polygon represented in this fire history coverage, I feel consistency of mapped perimeters has improved with time. This may be especially true for post-1988 fire perimeters, as the number of fires repersented annually in source data increased and the detail in these perimeters improved.

Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:
It is not recommended that this data be used at scales finer then 1:100,000. Complete positional accuracy of fire polygons/regions is undecisive due to the variety of data collection and digitization methodologies, sources, and temporal depth of source data.
Lineage:
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Convert all source data not in coverage form to polygon coverage.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\gis\arc\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Irrelevant items (columns) were deleted using the DROPITEM command.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\gis\gis_data\yr_merge\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Followed methods described in Frank Church Area Fires (Brett Davis RMRS) metadata: "Extract data by year from each fire history coverage acquired. Resulted in one polygon coverage per year per data source." For example, one polygon coverage for all 2000 fires mapped in the original Bitterroot National Forest fire history coverage. "utilized small, in-house AMLs customized for the particular source data (mainly dependent on whether the data was represented with ArcGIS Regions or Polygons). RESELECT being the common, lynch-pin Arc command.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\gis\gis_data\nrm_atlas\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
The following items (columns) were added to each coverage: atlas_source (character, 20, 20) and fire_year (short integer 6, 6).
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Atlas_source and fire_year items were polulated based on original source items. Island polygons were represented as '0' fire_year.
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Remaining irrevelant items were deleted using DROPITEM commend.
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Followed methods described in Frank Church Area Fires (Brett Davis RMRS) metadata: " The next step was to visually inspect the coverages and perform simple overlay analysis with the aim of detecting errors and redundant polygons. This was a long and painstaking process performed on a yearly basis for yeach year represented. All existing polygon coverages for each year represented were brought into ArcMap on a year by year basis.

"In addition, the perimeters provided by" land managers "were compared to Regional data (where available) and earlier versions of their fire perimeter coverages (also where available). These comparisons were used as supplementary information to all the decision criteris listed below.

"They were inspected for obvious errors such as: sliver polygons (very small, usually less than one acre, and/or prefect geometric shapes not relatable to other attributes) errant islands (e.g. year '0' but not completely contained within another polygon) etc.

"Very small polygons (<1 acre) with regular shapes (e.g. triangle) were deleted.

"Islands <1 acre were dissolved into the surrounding polygon.

"Simple overlay selection (in ArcMap) was used to detect redundant and partially overlapping polygons within each year. The resolution of these problems was based upon a decision criterialisted below with the following assumptions:

"Assumption #1: The same area will not burn twice in the same fire season. There may, of course, be exceptions (e.g. low-intensity ground fire early in the season followed by later in the season high-intensity or crown fire) but I believe these exceptions are rare.

"Assumption #2: Each land manager has a better idea of the extent of fires that occured within it's own boundaries than any other land manager.

"1) Appear to be duplicates (similar extent, spatial location): entirely/majority within one particular" land management boundary "-delete the polygon from the other" managment area. "2) Overlap but don't appear to be duplicated: UNION the two polygons, DISSOLVE the resultant polygon by year and set 'source' item to Source1/Source2 to reflect it's origins." This was common at land management boundaries associated with the Frank Church Area fire atlas, which resulted in the selection of pre-merged polygons where atlas_source item is populated as 'ALWRI' (Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute).

"Inclusion of polygons from regional coverages not represented in Forest coverages: This was a rare occurrence. When it did happen, I investigated the possibility of a mis-attribution in the regional coverage (i.e. 'year' incorrectly labeled) by comparing the polygon to polygons of any year from the NF data. If a match was not found and the polygon was spatially located within one of the Forests of interest it was included in the process (with source set to R1)." This typically occurred within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest boundary, as this Forest manages lands within the study area and does not currently have a digital fire history.

Since the Clearwater National Forest fire history completely overlapped with Nez Perce National Forest fire history coverage polygons, atlas_source items reflected as Clearwater NF often include Nez Perce NF perimeters. Atlas_source items populated as Nez Perce NF reflect years when Clearwater National Forest annual coverages only depicted fire occurance on Nez Perce National Forest lands. Similarly, Frank Church Area Fire (atlas_source populated 'ALRWI") annual polygons include Boise National Forest fire perimeters, as I was unable to successfully work with the data provided by the Boise NF and feared corruption of other data.

Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Joined source annual coverages into annual regional (northern Rocky Mountain region) coverages using MAPJOIN coverage. For example, 2000 Bitterroot NF + 2000 Salmon-Challis NF + 2000 Kootenai NF + 2000 Glacier NP = 2000 fires.
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Acquired a simple looping AML acquired from Brett Davis (RNRS Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute) to POLYREGION and UNION individual regional annual coverages into a single coverage.
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Used REGIONDISSOLVE command to build fire_year and atlas_source subclasses (regions).
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Dataset copied.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\gis\arc\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Dataset copied.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\other\ceg_thesis\ceg_cds\nrm_fire\nrm_atlas\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Dataset copied.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: c:\ceg\gis\arc\nrm_fires
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Metadata imported.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: C:\DOCUME~1\Owner\LOCALS~1\Temp\xml3.tmp
Process_Step:
Process_Description: Dataset copied.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:
\\PCDE760ZD51\C$\projects\FireDataUpdates\CarlyGibsonData\Nrm_atlas\nrocky_fire.gdb

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector
Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: G-polygon
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 0
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Label point
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 13521
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: GT-polygon composed of chains
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 13521
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Point
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 475
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Composite object
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 18
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Composite object
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 112
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Composite object
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 6095

Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Map_Projection:
Map_Projection_Name: Albers Conical Equal Area
Albers_Conical_Equal_Area:
Standard_Parallel: 46.000000
Standard_Parallel: 48.000000
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -109.500000
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 44.000000
False_Easting: 600000.000000
False_Northing: 0.000000
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000396
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000396
Planar_Distance_Units: meters
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222
Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Altitude_System_Definition:
Altitude_Resolution: 1.000000
Altitude_Encoding_Method:
Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: FSSDE.region_poly_Project
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR
Attribute_Definition: Year of fire
Attribute_Definition_Source: Year of fire
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: OBJECTID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ATLAS_SOURCE
Attribute_Definition: Source of original data
Attribute_Definition_Source: Source of original data
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: POLY_
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: POLY_ID
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AREA_
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PERIMETER
Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SHAPE
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SHAPE.AREA
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SHAPE.LEN
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: nrocky_fire.patatlas_source
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AREA
Attribute_Definition: Area of feature in internal units squared.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PERIMETER
Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ATLAS_SOURCE#
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ATLAS_SOURCE-ID
Attribute_Definition: User-defined feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ATLAS_SOURCE
Attribute_Definition: Source of original data
Attribute_Definition_Source: Source of original data
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR
Attribute_Definition: Year of fire
Attribute_Definition_Source: Year of fire
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: nrocky_fire.patfire_year
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AREA
Attribute_Definition: Area of feature in internal units squared.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PERIMETER
Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR#
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR-ID
Attribute_Definition: User-defined feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: nrocky_fire.patpoly
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: AREA
Attribute_Definition: Area of feature in internal units squared.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PERIMETER
Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: POLY#
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: POLY-ID
Attribute_Definition: User-defined feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: ATLAS_SOURCE
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FIRE_YEAR

Distribution_Information:
Resource_Description: Downloadable Data
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Transfer_Size: 21.879

Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20080527
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: University of Idaho, Department of Forest Resources
Contact_Person: Carly E Gibson (or Dr. Penelope Morgan)
Contact_Position: Graduate Student/Research Assistant (Professor)
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing address
City: P.O. Box 441133
State_or_Province: Moscow
Postal_Code: Idaho
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 208-885-1202
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gibs0636@uidaho.edu (pmorgan@uidaho.edu)
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
Metadata_Time_Convention: local time
Metadata_Extensions:
Online_Linkage:
Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile

Generated by mp version 2.8.6 on Tue May 27 07:20:40 2008