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Publication Details

Title:
Spatial datasets of wildfire risk to forest carbon for the conterminous United States (30m) circa 2014 landscapes Data publication contains GIS data
Author(s):
Houtman, Rachel M.; Riley, Karin L.; Finney, Mark A.; Ager, Alan A.
Publication Year:
2026
How to Cite:
These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation to recognize the contribution of open-source, publicly-funded research:
Houtman, Rachel M.; Riley, Karin L.; Finney, Mark A.; Ager, Alan A. 2026. Spatial datasets of wildfire risk to forest carbon for the conterminous United States (30m) circa 2014 landscapes. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0014

Users are strongly encouraged to read and fully comprehend the metadata prior to data use. Users should acknowledge the Originator when using this dataset as a source. Users should share data products developed using the source dataset with the Originator. No warranty is made by the Originator as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data for individual use or aggregate use with other data, or for purposes not intended by the Originator. This dataset is intended to estimate probabilistic wildfire risk to carbon that can support national strategic planning. The applicability of the data to support fire and land management planning on smaller areas will vary by location and specific intended use. Further investigation by local and regional experts should be conducted to inform decisions regarding local applicability. It is the sole responsibility of the local user, using this metadata document and local knowledge, to determine if and/or how these data can be used for particular areas of interest. Wildfire Risk to Forest Carbon products are not intended to replace local products where they exist, but rather serve as a back-up by providing wall-to-wall cross-boundary data coverage. It is the responsibility of the user to be familiar with the value, assumptions, and limitations of these national data publications. Managers and planners must evaluate these data according to the scale and requirements specific to their needs. Spatial information may not meet National Map Accuracy Standards. This information may be updated without notification.
Abstract:
Wildfire Risk to Forest Carbon provides information on two carbon risk metrics: 1) wildfire risk to total forest carbon, which includes the sum of the following pools: aboveground standing live and dead trees; litter and duff; coarse and fine woody debris; and shrub/herb pools, and 2) wildfire risk to market carbon, which includes the sum of aboveground and belowground carbon in standing live and dead trees. Each carbon risk metric has four components: 1) initial carbon, 2) carbon retained following fire, 3) carbon emissions or carbon loss by fire intensity, and 4) the expected annual carbon retained, emitted, or lost. Emissions are defined here as the total loss of carbon from all forest pools as a result of wildfire, while loss is defined as the reduction in standing live and dead tree carbon as a result of wildfire. Each carbon risk metric component is provided as an individual georeferenced TIFF file (30 meter resolution) for the conterminous United States.

Three national-level datasets were used to create products related to wildfire risk to total forest carbon and market carbon: 1) TreeMap, a CONUS-wide dataset of Forest Inventory and Analysis forest plot measurements that are imputed to spatially explicit LANDFIRE and biophysical datasets; 2) FuelMap, a dataset that complements TreeMap through the imputation of fuels data to the FIA plots in TreeMap for the subset of stands where fuels data are not collected; and 3) the annual burn probability and conditional fire intensity datasets produced using the Large Fire Simulator. FSim estimates were produced using LANDFIRE spatial data to model wildfire spread and intensity, resulting in fire probability datasets that are compatible for analysis with TreeMap and FuelMap. All three of these national-level datasets reflect landscape conditions circa 2014.

To estimate initial carbon, carbon retained post-fire, and carbon emitted and lost, TreeMap and FuelMap stand data were used in conjunction with the FIA database to create stand and tree list inputs for simulations in the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS). Simulations included a no-fire and wildfire scenarios for six flame lengths, corresponding to the midpoint of 5 conditional fire intensity levels (FILs) and a 20-foot flame length for the final “greater-than” conditional FIL category summarized by FSim. The six flame lengths are 1 foot (ft); 3 ft; 5 ft; 7 ft; 10 ft; and 20 ft. When fires are simulated in FFE-FVS, the program reports total fire emissions and carbon retained by pool for each stand. These outputs were linked back to the unique TreeMap IDs and mapped for the initial and conditional values. The expected annual values were then computed in conjunction with the FSim annual burn probability and conditional fire intensity probability layers.

Keywords:
biota; climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere; environment; health; Fire; Fire effects on environment; Smoke; Natural Resource Management & Use; Conservation; Economics; Landscape management; Restoration; wildfire; forest carbon; wildfire risk; carbon markets; conterminous United States; CONUS
Related publications:
  • Calkin, David E.; Ager, Alan A.; Thompson, Matthew P.; Lee, Danny C.; Quigley, Thomas M.; McHugh, Charles W.; Riley, Karin L.; Gilbertson-Day, Julie M. 2011. A comparative risk assessment framework for wildland fire management: the 2010 Cohesive Strategy Science Report. General Technical Report. RMRS-GTR-262. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 63 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-262
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