Fuel treatment and fire history within the Rim Fire in California

Metadata:
Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Lydersen, Jamie M.
Originator: Collins, Brandon M.
Originator: Brooks, Matthew L.
Originator: Matchett, John R.
Originator: Shive, Kristen L.
Originator: Povak, Nicholas A.
Originator: Kane, Van R.
Originator: Smith, Douglas F.
Publication_Date: 2017
Title:
Fuel treatment and fire history within the Rim Fire in California
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital and tabular digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: Forest Service Research Data Archive
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2017-0020
Description:
Abstract:
This data publication contains a geospatial file in raster format of wildfires and fuels treatments that occurred between 1995 and 2013 on Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park in California within the area burned by the 2013 Rim Fire, excluding the outer 500 meters of the fire perimeter. Tabular data are provided for three sets of circular sample windows of size 500 acres (ac), 2500 ac and 5000 ac within the same geospatial extent. Variables included for the sample windows are proportion burned at high severity in the Rim Fire; proportion treated/burned prior to the Rim Fire; mean values for actual evapotranspiration, water deficit, energy release component, and burning index; and proportion in shrubland, riparian, hardwood, conifer, and grassland LandFire vegetation classes. Tabular data are also provided for a set of transects within the same geographic extent that are placed along radial lines centered on the Rim Fire's origin point.
Purpose:
These data were used to gain insight into the influence of fuels treatments, weather, vegetation, and water balance on fire severity in a large wildfire occurring in Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest at three different landscape scales, and to assess the impact of fuels treatments and previous fires on fire severity along the general direction of fire spread.
Supplemental_Information:
These data were published on 04/27/2017. On 10/17/23 minor metadata updates were made, including reference to article that is now published.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1995
Ending_Date: 2013
Currentness_Reference:
Ground condition
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed
Spatial_Domain:
Description_of_Geographic_Extent:
Rim Fire perimeter within California (Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite National Park)
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.24036
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -119.68759
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 38.06814
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.76155
Bounding_Altitudes:
Altitude_Minimum: 265.000
Altitude_Maximum: 2400.000
Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: biota
Theme_Keyword: environment
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Research & Development Taxonomy
Theme_Keyword: Fire
Theme_Keyword: Fire ecology
Theme_Keyword: Fire effects on environment
Theme_Keyword: Prescribed fire
Theme_Keyword: Natural Resource Management & Use
Theme_Keyword: Forest management
Theme_Keyword: Landscape management
Theme_Keyword: Restoration
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: fuels treatment
Theme_Keyword: fuels reduction
Theme_Keyword: thinning
Theme_Keyword: wildfire
Theme_Keyword: fire severity
Theme_Keyword: fire progression
Theme_Keyword: mixed conifer forest
Theme_Keyword: landscape analysis
Theme_Keyword: Rim Fire
Theme_Keyword: Joint Fire Science Program
Theme_Keyword: JFSP
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: Stanislaus National Forest
Place_Keyword: Yosemite National Park
Place_Keyword: Sierra Nevada
Place_Keyword: California
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
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:

Lydersen, Jamie M.; Collins, Brandon M.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Matchett, John R.; Shive, Kristen L.; Povak, Nicholas A.; Kane, Van R.; Smith, Douglas F. 2017. Fuel treatment and fire history within the Rim Fire in California. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2017-0020
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Jamie Lydersen
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Contact_Position: Biological Science Technician
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 1731 Research Park Dr.
City: Davis
State_or_Province: CA
Postal_Code: 95618
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 530-759-1767
Contact Instructions: This contact information was current as of original publication date. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Data_Set_Credit:
Funding for this project provided by Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP # 14-1-01-23): https://www.firescience.gov; USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station; US Geological Survey; and Yosemite National Park.
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Lydersen, Jamie M.
Originator: Collins, Brandon M.
Originator: Brooks, Matthew L.
Originator: Matchett, John R.
Originator: Shive, Kristen L.
Originator: Povak, Nicholas A.
Originator: Kane, Van R.
Originator: Smith, Douglas F.
Publication_Date: 2017
Title:
Evidence of fuels management and fire weather influencing fire severity in an extreme fire event
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Ecological Applications
Issue_Identification: 27(7): 2013-2030
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1586
Online_Linkage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/55246
Analytical_Tool:
Analytical_Tool_Description:
“Spatstat”, “maptools” and “raster” packages in R version 3.3.1. These software packages are used to read and manipulate geospatial data.
Tool_Access_Information:
Online_Linkage: https://www.r-project.org
Tool_Access_Instructions:
Available via URL above.
Analytical_Tool:
Analytical_Tool_Description:
FireFamilyPlus version 4.1. This software is used to calculate fire weather and other metrics of the National Fire Danger Rating System.
Tool_Access_Information:
Online_Linkage: https://www.firelab.org/project/firefamilyplus
Tool_Access_Instructions:
Available via URL above.
Analytical_Tool:
Analytical_Tool_Description:
ArcMap version 10.3. This software is used to visualize and manipulate geospatial data.
Tool_Access_Information:
Online_Linkage: https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/
Tool_Access_Instructions:
Available via URL above.
Back to Top
Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
Tabular digital data were scanned for erroneous entries. Geospatial data of treatment history were verified with Forest Service and National Park Service personnel.
Logical_Consistency_Report:
not applicable
Completeness_Report:
Treatment and fire history covers the dates January 1, 1995 through August 16, 2013. The sample windows were created from a random selection of up to 100 points with a minimum spacing criterion for each sample. Complete data are provided for each sample window.
Lineage:
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: National Park Service
Publication_Date: 2016
Title:
Yosemite Fire History Database, 1930-2016
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Other_Citation_Details:
Geospatial Dataset - (Code: 2237598)
Online_Linkage: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2237598
Type_of_Source_Media: Online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1995
Ending_Date: 2016
Source_Currentness_Reference:
ground condition
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
NPS
Source_Contribution:
Fuels treatment boundaries for Yosemite were obtained from the Yosemite Fire History Database. The data we used was obtained directly from collaborators at the park, but the fire history geodatabase referenced here contains almost exactly the same data that we obtained from our collaborators at the park. The only minor difference was that a few pile-burn treatments that were included in what they sent to us were not in this fire history geodatabase, which affects only 0.1% of the study area. The fire history database has data as far back as 1930, but we only used records dating back to 1995.
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Publication_Date: 2015
Title:
Fire perimeters
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Other_Citation_Details:
(URL was valid at time of download)
Online_Linkage: //frap.cdf.ca.gov/data/frapgisdata-sw-fireperimeters_download.php
Type_of_Source_Media: online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1995
Ending_Date: 2015
Source_Currentness_Reference:
ground condition
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
CDF
Source_Contribution:
Wildfire boundaries were obtained from a statewide fire database maintained by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (currently available at //frap.fire.ca.gov/data/frapgisdata-sw-fireperimeters_download).

The earliest fire in the record is from 1878, but we don’t know how comprehensive the fire history is for these early years. We only used data going back as far as 1995.
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: USDA Forest Service
Originator: US Department of Interior
Publication_Date: 2012
Title:
LANDFIRE 2012
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Online_Linkage: https://landfire.gov/NationalProductDescriptions21.php
Type_of_Source_Media: online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2012
Source_Currentness_Reference:
ground condition
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
LandFire 2012
Source_Contribution:
LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type layer (Rollins 2009).

Rollins, M. G. 2009. LANDFIRE: a nationally consistent vegetation, wildland fire, and fuel assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18:235-249. https://doi.org/10.1071/wf08088
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: California Landscape Conservation Cooperative Climate Commons
Publication_Date: 2014
Title:
The basin characterization model dataset
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Online_Linkage: //climate.calcommons.org/bcm
Type_of_Source_Media: online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 1981
Ending_Date: 2010
Source_Currentness_Reference:
ground condition
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
CBCM
Source_Contribution:
The 2014 historical (1981-2010) version of actual evapotranspiration and annual climatic water deficit from the California Basin Characterization Model (Flint et al. 2013).

Flint, Lorranie; Flint, Alan L.; Thorne, James H.; Boynton, Ryan. 2013. Fine-scale hydrologic modeling for regional landscape applications: the California Basin Characterization Model development and performance. Ecological Processes 2(1):25. https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-1709-2-25
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Treatment raster file:
Fuels treatment boundaries were obtained from FS geospatial records and the Yosemite Fire History geodatabase. Wildfire boundaries were obtained from a statewide fire database maintained by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). Fire severity data were obtained for fires > 40 hectares (ha) in size from a database maintained by the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. The fire severity data and the fuels treatment data were combined to create a treatment class raster of 30 m resolution where previous fire severity could be considered in separate treatment classes for the previously burned area. Treatments were classified as "Thin", "Surface", "Rx or small wildfire", and "Thin and Rx". Areas previously burned in large (> 40 ha) wildfires were classified as "Previous unchanged", "Previous low", "Previous moderate", and "Previous high". Treatment categories were based on the following rules. Commercial and pre-commercial thinning along with areas that included both surface fuel manipulation and thinning were included in the “Thin” group. Areas that only received a mechanical surface treatment were categorized as “Surface”. Surface treatments included pile burning, yarding, rearrangement of fuels, and chipping. Pile burning was included as a surface mechanical treatment rather than a prescription fire. Areas that were burned in prescription fires or burned in a wildfire for which we did not have severity data were included in one category (Rx or Small WF). Areas that were both thinned and burned by wildfire were designated according to their fire severity class. Areas that were thinned and burned with prescribed fire were classified as "Thin and Rx".
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:
NPS; CDF
Process_Date: Unknown
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Tabular data for sample windows:
Circular sample windows of 500, 2500 and 5000 acres were generated at random locations across the analysis area, with a different random sample created for each sample window size. The minimum distance between sample window centers was restricted at each scale so that adjacent samples did not overlap more than 50% of their area. A final sample size of 100 was used for the 500 and 2500 acre sample windows; for the 5000 ac windows this was reduced to 84 samples due to the minimum distance between samples requirement. All variables in the tabular data were extracted for each random window sample from the treatment class raster and the raster datasets described below. Generation of samples and extraction of variables was done using the “spatstat”, “maptools” and “raster” packages in R version 3.3.1. Raster datasets of the burning index and energy release component were generated using a fire progression map and daily values calculated in FireFamilyPlus version 4.1 using weather data from the Crane Flat remote automated weather station. Vegetation variables were calculated from the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type layer (Rollins 2009). The 2014 historical (1981-2010) version of actual evapotranspiration and annual climatic water deficit from the California Basin Characterization Model (CBCM) (Flint et al. 2013) were resampled from 270 to 30 m using bilinear interpolation to match the scale of the other covariates. A raster of classified Rim Fire severity was generated using RdNBR values and standard class thresholds for the Sierra Nevada (Miller and Thode 2007).

Rollins, M. G. 2009. LANDFIRE: a nationally consistent vegetation, wildland fire, and fuel assessment. International Journal of Wildland Fire 18:235-249. https://doi.org/10.1071/wf08088

Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.; Thorne, James H.; Boynton, Ryan. 2013. Fine-scale hydrologic modeling for regional landscape applications: the California Basin Characterization Model development and performance. Ecological Processes 2:1. https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-1709-2-25

Miller, Jay D.; Thode, Andrea E. 2007. Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape with a relative version of the delta Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). Remote Sensing of Environment 109:66-80.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:
LandFire 2012; CBCM
Process_Date: Unknown
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Tabular data for transect points:
Transects oriented along radial lines separated by 1° and originating at the fire's origin point were generated in ArcMap version 10.3. Each transect consisted of a series of points spaced 50 m apart along a radial direction (1° to 360°). To account for the closer spacing of transects near the fire’s origin point, points were deleted so that all adjacent transects were a minimum of 500 m apart (range of 500 m to 1000 m). Each instance of a radial line crossing into a treated or previously burned area was considered a transect and included all points within 250 m of the treatment/fire boundary, so that transects were up to 500 m long. A set of “control” transects that did not cross into a treatment or previous fire was also created using a random starting point for all portions of the radial lines with at least 500 m length outside of previously burned or treated areas.
Process_Date: Unknown
Back to Top
Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster
Raster_Object_Information:
Raster_Object_Type: Grid Cell
Row_Count: 1186
Column_Count: 1584
Back to Top
Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Map_Projection:
Map_Projection_Name: Transverse Mercator
Transverse_Mercator:
Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -117.0
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
False_Easting: 500000.0
False_Northing: 0.0
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 0.00000000222002416450096
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.00000000222002416450096
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: D North American 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: GRS 1980
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222101
Back to Top
Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
Below you will find a list of the data available in this publication and a short description of the contents of each file.

\DATA\SampleWindows_500ac.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing tabular data for 100 sample windows of size 500 acres within the Rim Fire perimeter.
\DATA\SampleWindows_2500ac.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing tabular data for 100 sample windows of size 2500 acres within the Rim Fire perimeter.
\DATA\SampleWindows_5000ac.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing tabular data for 84 sample windows of size 5000 acres within the Rim Fire perimeter.

All three of these Sample Windows data files include the following variables:

SW_ID = Unique identifying number for each sample window

x = X coordinate of sample window center, given as the easting for Universal Transverse Mercator zone 10 N

y = Y coordinate of sample window center, given as the northing for Universal Transverse Mercator zone 10 N

Pct_H = Proportion of high severity fire in the Rim Fire within each sample window. High severity includes pixels with relative differenced normalized burn ratio values ≥ 641.

Pct_Trt = Proportion of each sample window that was previously burned at low to moderate severity or received a fuels treatment. Previous high severity fire was not included in this total.

Mean_BI = Mean value of the burning index within each sample window, extracted from a raster dataset of daily values for the burning index

Mean_ERC = Mean value of the energy release component within each sample window, extracted from a raster dataset of daily values for the energy release component

Mean_AET = Mean value of actual evapotranspiration within each sample window, based on the California Basin Characterization Model

Mean_Deficit = Mean value of annual climatic water deficit within each sample window, based on the California Basin Characterization Model

Pct_Shrub = Proportion of each sample window classified as Shrubland by the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type dataset

Pct_Rip = Proportion of each sample window classified as Riparian by the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type dataset

Pct_Hwd = Proportion of each sample window classified as Hardwood by the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type dataset

Pct_Con = Proportion of each sample window classified as Conifer by the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type dataset

Pct_Grass = Proportion of each sample window classified as Grassland by the LandFire 2012 existing vegetation type dataset



\DATA\TransectPts.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing tabular data for 3427 points within 402 transects within the Rim Fire perimeter. Variables include:

FID = Unique identifying number for each sample point

Strip_ID = Identifying number for each transect

Point = Identifying number for each point within a transect. Points are ordered consecutively starting with the point closest to the fire origin point. For transects that cross a treatment boundary point number 6 is the first point within the treatment.

X = X coordinate of sample window center, given as the easting for Universal Transverse Mercator zone 10 N

Y = Y coordinate of sample window center, given as the northing for Universal Transverse Mercator zone 10 N

TrtCont = Categorical variable denoting transects that cross a treatment boundary (Treated) and those that do not (Control)


\DATA\trt_class_copy: Raster file depicting previous fires and fuels treatments that occurred between 1995-2013 within the perimeter of the Rim Fire. Variables include:

Rowid = Default ID number for each vegetation class

Value = Unique ID for each treatment class

Count = Number of pixels in the dataset in each class

Class = Treatment class. Includes “Previous unchanged”, “Previous low”, “Previous moderate”, “Previous high”, “Rx or small WF”, “Surface”, “Thin”, “Thin and Rx”, and “Untreated”.
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
Lydersen, Jamie M.; Collins, Brandon M.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Matchett, John R.; Shive, Kristen L.; Povak, Nicholas A.; Kane, Van R.; Smith, Douglas F. 2017. Evidence of fuels management and fire weather influencing fire severity in an extreme fire event. Ecological Applications. 27(7): 2013-2030. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1586 and https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/55246
Back to Top
Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Research and Development
Contact_Position: Research Data Archivist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 240 West Prospect Road
City: Fort Collins
State_or_Province: CO
Postal_Code: 80526
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: see Contact Instructions
Contact Instructions: This contact information was current as of October 2023. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Resource_Description: RDS-2017-0020
Distribution_Liability:
Metadata documents have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness. Unless otherwise stated, all data and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. However, neither the author, the Archive, nor any part of the federal government can assure the reliability or suitability of these data for a particular purpose. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed for a user's application of these data or related materials.

The metadata, data, or related materials may be updated without notification. If a user believes errors are present in the metadata, data or related materials, please use the information in (1) Identification Information: Point of Contact, (2) Metadata Reference: Metadata Contact, or (3) Distribution Information: Distributor to notify the author or the Archive of the issues.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: ASCII
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Comma-delimited ASCII text file (CSV)
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2017-0020
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Version_Number: See Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Raster GRID file
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2017-0020
Fees: None
Back to Top
Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20231017
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Jamie Lydersen
Contact_Organization: Biological Science Technician
Contact_Position: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 1731 Research Park Dr.
City: Davis
State_or_Province: CA
Postal_Code: 95618
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 530-759-1767
Contact Instructions: This contact information was current as of original publication date. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999
Back to Top