Smoothed raster of wildfire transmission to buildings in the continental United States

Metadata:
Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Bunzel, Ken
Originator: Ager, Alan A.
Originator: Day, Michelle A.
Originator: Evers, Cody R.
Originator: Ringo, Chris D.
Publication_Date: 2022
Title:
Smoothed raster of wildfire transmission to buildings in the continental United States
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: Forest Service Research Data Archive
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0015
Description:
Abstract:
Recent fire seasons in the continental United States have motivated federal agencies to explore scenarios for augmenting current fuel management and forest restoration in areas where fires ignite and spread to buildings in adjacent communities. This data publication contains one (1) geodatabase raster representing a spatial assessment within the continental U.S. of areas at high risk of igniting fires that spread to and expose buildings as a smoothed raster of sources of annual building exposure from wildfire. This raster was created by intersecting simulated wildfire perimeters with building location data over 10,000 to 100,000 fire seasons. This assessment was completed for the year 2020. These data can be used in scenario planning to helps design fuel treatment program that target wildfire exposure to developed areas. The continental scale of the data support expanded use of scenario planning science to analyze and communicate large scale expansion of current forest and fuel management initiatives.
Purpose:
Wildfire impacts to developed areas have stimulated wide-ranging policy discussions about the role of active forest management to reduce hazardous fuels on federal and private wildlands. An assessment of areas that have the highest likelihood to ignite fires that spread to buildings in developed areas are needed. These spatial data were used to estimate sources of wildfire ignitions that spread to and expose communities to help highlight areas that could be targeted for fuels reduction treatments and other risk mitigation efforts.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2020
Currentness_Reference:
Publication date
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed
Spatial_Domain:
Description_of_Geographic_Extent:
Spatial extent is the continental United States.
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -127.88855
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65.49744
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 51.60533
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 22.87372
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation
Theme_Keyword: structure
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Research & Development Taxonomy
Theme_Keyword: Fire
Theme_Keyword: Fire effects on environment
Theme_Keyword: Wildland/urban interface
Theme_Keyword: Natural Resource Management & Use
Theme_Keyword: Forest management
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: wildfire
Theme_Keyword: wildfire exposure
Theme_Keyword: wildfire transmission
Theme_Keyword: wildfire management
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: continental United States
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:

Bunzel, Ken; Ager, Alan A.; Day, Michelle A.; Evers, Cody R.; Ringo, Chris D. 2022. Smoothed raster of wildfire transmission to buildings in the continental United States. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0015
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Michelle Day
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Contact_Position: Biological Scientist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 3200 SW Jefferson Way
City: Corvallis
State_or_Province: OR
Postal_Code: 97331
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 541-758-7768
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: michelle.day@usda.gov
Browse_Graphic:
Browse_Graphic_File_Name: \Supplements\BuildingExposure_CONUS_MS.png
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:
Annual building exposure from wildfire (very low, low, moderately low, moderate, and high) in the continental United States.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: PNG
Data_Set_Credit:
Funding for this project was provided by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station and USDA Forest Service, State & Private Forestry.

Additional acknowledgments are extended to Portland State University; Oregon State University; USDA Forest Service, International Visitor Program; and Kingbird Software.


Author Information:

Ken Bunzel
Kingbird Software

Alan A. Ager
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5312-665X

Michelle A. Day
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0188-4093

Cody R. Evers
Portland State University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8449-7442

Chris D. Ringo
Oregon State University
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9877-8651
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Ager, Alan A.
Originator: Day, Michelle A.
Originator: Ringo, Chris D.
Originator: Evers, Cody R.
Originator: Alcasena, Fermin J.
Originator: Houtman, Rachel M.
Originator: Scanlon, Michael
Originator: Ellersick, Tania
Publication_Date: 2021
Title:
Development and application of the Fireshed Registry
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: General Technical Report
Issue_Identification: RMRS-GTR-425
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-425
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Ager, Alan A.
Originator: Evers, Cody R.
Originator: Day, Michelle A.
Originator: Alcasena, Fermin J.
Originator: Houtman, Rachel M.
Publication_Date: 2021
Title:
Planning for future fire: scenario analysis of an accelerated fuel reduction plan for the western United States
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Landscape and Urban Planning
Issue_Identification: 215
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104212
Online_Linkage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/63129
Analytical_Tool:
Analytical_Tool_Description:
FSim is a geospatial Fire Simulation system developed by the USDA Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory to estimate the burn probability and variability in fire behavior across large landscapes. FSim is used for national, regional, and local risk modeling in the United States.
Tool_Access_Information:
Tool_Access_Instructions:
Please send requests to: Fire Modeling Institute, USFS Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, 5775 US Highway 10 West, Missoula, Montana, 59808; SM.FS.mso_fmi@usda.gov
Tool_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Finney, Mark A.
Originator: McHugh, Charles W.
Originator: Grenfell, Isaac C.
Originator: Riley, Karin L.
Originator: Short, Karen C.
Publication_Date: 2011
Title:
A simulation of probabilistic wildfire risk components for the continental United States
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment
Issue_Identification: 25(7): 973-1000
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-011-0462-z
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Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
The fuels data used in this prediction are not current, due to the data vintage of fuel conditions used in the available Fire Simulator (FSim) simulations. Thus our predictions in areas that have had disturbance and management since 2014 should be used with caution, with consideration of finer scaled data. As with all risk products there is substantial uncertainty associated with these estimates. This assessment concerns exposure and not risk as we make no predictions about loss. In addition, building footprint data represent 2015 conditions and do not consider more recent development.
Logical_Consistency_Report:
No consistency evaluation was performed.
Completeness_Report:
Data estimate exposure and not loss. No prediction is made about the potential loss from wildfire. Note that due to the smoothing process there may be unburnable areas where exposure is predicted; this will need to be accounted for during the use of these data.
Lineage:
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Short, Karen C.
Originator: Finney, Mark A.
Originator: Vogler, Kevin C.
Originator: Scott, Joe H.
Originator: Gilbertson-Day, Julie W.
Originator: Grenfell, Isaac C.
Publication_Date: 2020
Title:
Spatial datasets of probabilistic wildfire risk components for the United States (270m)
Edition: 2nd Edition
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: Forest Service Research Data Archive
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2016-0034-2
Type_of_Source_Media: Online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2014
Source_Currentness_Reference:
Publication Date
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
Short et al. (2020)
Source_Contribution:
FSim ignition locations and perimeters
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Microsoft
Publication_Date: 2018
Title:
Computer generated building footprints for the United States GitHub repository
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
Online_Linkage: https://github.com/Microsoft/USBuildingFootprints
Type_of_Source_Media: Online
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Multiple_Dates/Times:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2012
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2019
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2020
Source_Currentness_Reference:
Publication Date
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
Microsoft (2018)
Source_Contribution:
Microsoft building footprint data for the continental United States
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Building exposure was mapped using the wildfire simulation data from the national FSim library (Short et al. 2020; fire perimeters not publicly available) with 79 million simulated fires covering the continental United States and Microsoft building footprint data (Microsoft 2018) as described in Ager et al. (2021). The Short et al. (2020) wildfire simulations used LANDFIRE 2014 fuel conditions (LANDFIRE, 2017) and the fire season scenarios were based on surface weather data for windspeed and direction, and national gridded weather data from North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS; 1979–2012)(Abatzoglou 2013). In contrast to prior versions of the library, the newer fire simulations used synchronized Energy Release Component (ERC) streams as described in Grenfell et al. (2010), which retain the spatial covariance structure and temporal auto-correlation of the NLDAS weather inputs. FSim simulates wildfires within large geographic units or “pyromes”, regions of relatively homogenous fire regimes. Between 10,000 and 100,000 hypothetical fire season scenarios are simulated for each pyrome depending on the historical large fire frequency. We created a building centroid point file from individual Microsoft building footprint polygons (n = 125 million) (Microsoft 2018), then intersected FSim fire perimeters with the building footprint data in ArcGIS, to tabulate the total number of buildings within each perimeter. Although FSim models firebrands and thus potential exposure to buildings outside of the fire perimeters, we excluded firebrand exposure due to limitations in the fire modeling system.

The resulting exposure values were attributed to FSim ignition points to predict exposure from ignitions at that location. The attributed ignition dataset was used to create a 90 meter (m) smoothed building exposure raster using inverse distance weighting in ArcGIS with a search radius of 2500 m and a power of 0.5, creating a building exposure grid based on the sum total of the ignitions over the 10,000 + fire seasons. To annualize the exposure data an ignition probability raster was created (ignitions/acre/yr) using the ArcGIS point density tool, with a 2500 m circular search radius and the population field set to ignitions per year. The exposure raster and ignition probability raster were then multiplied to create a final smoothed building exposure raster, in which each cell represents the expected annual number of buildings exposed by wildfire igniting in the surrounding acre per year. Data were smoothed to account for the inherent wildfire stochasticity to wildfire ignitions and to account for exposure in areas that did not by chance experience any ignitions, but could given landscape conditions.


Ager, Alan A.; Evers, Cody R.; Day, Michelle A.; Alcasena, Fermin J.; Houtman, Rachel M. 2021. Planning for future fire: scenario analysis of an accelerated fuel reduction plan for the western United States. Landscape and Urban Planning 215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104212

Abatzoglou, John T. 2013. Development of gridded surface meteorological data for ecological applications and modelling. International Journal of Climatology 33:121-131. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3413

LANDFIRE. 2017. 40 Scott and Burgan Fire Behavior Fuel Models. LF 1.4.0. Refresh. https://www.landfire.gov/fbfm40.php

Grenfell, Issac C.; Finney, Mark A.; Jolly, W. Matt. 2010. Simulating spatial and temporally related fire weather. In Viegas, D.X., ed. Proceedings of the VI International Conference on Forest Fire Research. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/39353
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:
Short et al. (2020); Microsoft (2018)
Process_Date: Unknown
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Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster
Raster_Object_Information:
Raster_Object_Type: Grid Cell
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Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Map_Projection:
Map_Projection_Name: USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area Conic USGS version
Albers_Conical_Equal_Area:
Standard_Parallel: 29.5
Standard_Parallel: 45.5
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -96.0
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 23.0
False_Easting: 0.0
False_Northing: 0.0
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 0.0000000037527980722984474
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.0000000037527980722984474
Planar_Distance_Units: meter
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: D North American 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: GRS 1980
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.0
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222101
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Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
Below you will find a list and detailed description of the files included in this data publication.

DATA FILES (1)

1. \Data\Firesheds_BuildingExposure_CONUS.gdb: Esri geodatabase (GDB) containing a geodatabase raster representing a spatial assessment of areas at high risk of igniting fires that spread to and expose buildings as a smoothed raster of sources of annual building exposure from wildfire.

The raster value is the expected annual average number of buildings exposed to wildfire from ignitions within the 90 meter pixel.


SUPPLEMENTAL FILES (1)

1. \Supplements\BuildingExposure_CONUS_MS.png: Portable network graphic (PNG) image file showing annual building exposure from wildfire in the continental United States.
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
Ager, Alan A.; Evers, Cody R.; Day, Michelle A.; Alcasena, Fermin J.; Houtman, Rachel M. 2021. Planning for future fire: scenario analysis of an accelerated fuel reduction plan for the western United States. Landscape and Urban Planning 215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104212
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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 March 2022. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Resource_Description: RDS-2022-0015
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: GDB
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Esri geodatabase (GDB) file
File_Decompression_Technique: Files zipped with 7-Zip 19.0
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0015
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: PNG
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Portable Network Graphic (PNG) format
File_Decompression_Technique: Files zipped with 7-Zip 19.0
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0015
Fees: None
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Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20220310
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Michelle Day
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Contact_Position: Biological Scientist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 3200 SW Jefferson Way
City: Corvallis
State_or_Province: OR
Postal_Code: 97331
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 541-758-7768
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: michelle.day@usda.gov
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
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