Babeldaob Island wildfires (2012+)

Metadata:

Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Earl, Allyson R.
Originator: Geringer-Frazier, Barbara L.
Originator: Dendy, Julian T.
Originator: Mesubed, Dino
Originator: Giardina, Christian P.
Originator: Cordell, Susan
Originator: Holm, Tarita
Originator: Uowolo, Amanda L.
Publication_Date: 2024
Title:
Babeldaob Island wildfires (2012+)
Edition: 2nd
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: Forest Service Research Data Archive
Other_Citation_Details:
Updated 22 January 2025
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039-2
Description:
Abstract:
This data publication contains wildfire locations as well as areas of repeated wildfires on Babeldaob Island, Palau. These data were digitized from a variety of sources: handheld global positioning system (GPS) fire perimeter mapping, aerial photo fire perimeter mapping, and satellite image fire perimeter mapping. In addition to 1) wildfire locations (2012-2024) and 2) the areas of repeated wildfires (2012-2021), also included for Babeldaob Island (dated 2021 unless otherwise noted) are: 3) streams composed from topographic maps, 4) roads (obtained from Palau Automated Land and Resource Information Service (PALARIS) and updated with 2015 imagery), 5) locations of terrestrial protected areas, 6) mangrove vegetation around the island, 7) Babeldaob Island state boundaries, and 8) Babeldaob coastline.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to summarize annual area and forest resources burned on Babeldaob Island, Palau.
Supplemental_Information:
The first edition of these data (Dendy et al. 2022; https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039) was published on 04/07/2022 and included data from 2012-2021. This second edition, published on 02/02/2024, includes the addition of wildfire location data from 2022-2023. On 01/22/2025, data for 2024 were added as well as a few minor metadata updates.

For more information about this study and these data, see Dendy et al. (2022; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5020045).
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 2012
Ending_Date: 2024
Currentness_Reference:
Ground condition
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Annually
Spatial_Domain:
Description_of_Geographic_Extent:
These data were collected on Babeldaob Island, Palau.
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: 134.468536
East_Bounding_Coordinate: 134.645788
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 7.724835
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 7.354097
Bounding_Altitudes:
Altitude_Minimum: 0
Altitude_Maximum: 242
Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: environment
Theme_Keyword: society
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Research & Development Taxonomy
Theme_Keyword: Climate change
Theme_Keyword: Fire
Theme_Keyword: Inventory, Monitoring, & Analysis
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: wildfire
Theme_Keyword: forest
Theme_Keyword: savanna
Theme_Keyword: hunting
Theme_Keyword: agriculture
Theme_Keyword: remote sensing
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: Babeldaob Island
Place_Keyword: Palau
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:

Earl, Allyson R.; Geringer-Frazier, Barbara L.; Dendy, Julian T.; Mesubed, Dino; Giardina, Christian P.; Cordell, Susan; Holm, Tarita; Uowolo, Amanda L. 2024. Babeldaob Island wildfires (2012+). 2nd Edition. Updated 22 January 2025. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039-2
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
Contact_Person: Allyson R. Earl
Contact_Position: Wildfire Mapping Technician
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: 65-1279 Kawaihae Road, Suite 21
City: Kamuela
State_or_Province: HI
Postal_Code: 96743
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 808-885-0900
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: firetracking@hawaiiwildfire.org
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:
These data were funded by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) and the USDA Forest Service, Region 5. (Funded by the USFS through Participating Agreements between PSW and the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization [#22-PA-11272136-015].)


Author Information:

Allyson R. Earl
Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization

Barbara L. Geringer-Frazier
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station

Julian T. Dendy
Coral Reef Research Foundation
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1185-4186

Dino Mesubed
Palau Bureau of Agriculture

Christian P. Giardina
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station

Susan Cordell
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4840-8921

Tarita Holm
SOAS University of London

Amanda L. Uowolo
USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Dendy, Julian
Originator: Mesubed, Dino
Originator: Giardina, Christian P.
Originator: Cordell, Susan
Originator: Holm, Tarita
Originator: Uowolo, Amanda
Publication_Date: 2022
Title:
Dynamics of anthropogenic wildfire on Babeldaob Island (Palau) as revealed by fire history
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Fire
Issue_Identification: 5(2): 45
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5020045
Online_Linkage: https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/64291
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Dendy, Julian T.
Originator: Mesubed, Dino
Originator: Giardina, Christian P.
Originator: Cordell, Susan
Originator: Holm, Tarita
Originator: Uowolo, Amanda L.
Publication_Date: 2022
Title:
Babeldaob Island wildfires (2012-2021)
Edition: 1st
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: Forest Service Research Data Archive
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039
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Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
Garmin Map GPS 60 was estimated at ± 7.5 meters (m). Georeferenced aerial photographs were estimated at ± 5 m. Satellite imagery were estimated at ± 5 m.

Accuracy assessment of fire classification methods is included in Dendy et al. (2022).


Dendy, Julian; Mesubed, Dino; Colin, Patrick L.; Giardina, Christian P.; Cordell, Susan; Holm, Tarita; Uowolo, Amanda. 2022. Dynamics of anthropogenic wildfire on Babeldaob Island (Palau) as revealed by fire history. Fire 5(2): 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5020045 and https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/64291
Logical_Consistency_Report:
The data are logically consistent, which was verified with quality assurance (QA) throughout the data collection process.
Completeness_Report:
Several polygons are missing a Photo ID. Satellite imagery (World View 1,2, and 3, and GEO1) from the DGEV online image service was used to check, correct, and supplement burned area archives from 2012 to 2015 (this information can be found in the Comments attribute). Less accurate burned areas digitized from GPS tracks or aerial photos were removed from the data set. Some small number of fires was likely missed due to cloud cover, particularly from 2016 to 2023. Very small or obviously controlled fires were not digitized.
Lineage:
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Palau Ministry of Finance (Palau Automated Land and Resource Information Service)
Publication_Date: Unknown
Title:
Babeldaob mangrove, state boundary, roads, and streams layers
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Publication_Information:
Publisher: PALARIS
Type_of_Source_Media: Email
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 1987
Source_Currentness_Reference:
Publication Date
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
PALARIS
Source_Contribution:
The Babeldaob mangrove layer, state boundary, roads, and streams layers were obtained from PALARIS, where they were created in the 2000’s. Layers obtained via personal communication: palaris@palaunet.com.

The mangrove layer was taken from a national vegetation layer, which was digitized by PALARIS from maps in Cole et al. (1987).

Cole, Thomas G.; Falanruw, Marjorie C.; MacLean, Colin D.; Whitesell, Craig D.; Ambacher, Alan H. 1987. Vegetation survey of the Republic of Palau. Resource Bulletin PSW-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 13 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/PSW-RB-22
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: TNC (The Nature Conservancy, Palau Field Office)
Publication_Date: Unknown
Title:
Babeldaob protected area layer
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Palau
Publisher: The Nature Conservancy
Type_of_Source_Media: Email
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 2018
Source_Currentness_Reference:
Publication Date
Source_Citation_Abbreviation:
TNC
Source_Contribution:
The Protected Area layer was obtained from Mike Aulerio at TNC Palau Field Office in 2018 (maulerio@tnc.org).
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Palau_Babeldaob_Fires_2012_2024:
Fire perimeters were hand drawn and burned area of polygons were generated with calculate geometry function, using handheld GPS coordinates, aerial photographs, and satellite images. Satellite imagery was used to supplement and correct earlier handheld GPS and aerial photo fires from 2012 to 2015. State boundary shapefiles were used to generate summary statistics of wildfires by state. Stream, mangrove, coastline, and road shapefiles were used to generate summary statistics for number of fires and percent of burned area within 10, 50 or 500 meters of streams, mangroves, coastline, and roads.

Babeldaob_Coast:
The island coastline, manually digitized in ArcMap by J. Dendy from a 2006 Quickbird mosaic satellite image, was used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to highlight burned areas within 10 meters.

Babeldaob_RepeatedBurnAreas_2012_2021:
The Intersect tool in ArcMap was used to generate overlaps of fires between years, and all intersects were merged into the larger repeated burns shapefile.

BabeldaobVeg_Mangrove:
The mangrove layer, which was taken from the Palau digitized vegetation map (Cole et al. 1987, digitized by PALARIS), was used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to highlight burned areas within 10 and 50 meters.

bdry_poly:
The boundaries of Babeldaob Island states, which was created by PALARIS, were used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to generate state burned area summaries.

FinalRoads2015_Merge:
The island road layer, which was created by PALARIS, was updated using 2015 WV2 mosaic imagery, and used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to highlight burned areas within 10 and 50 meters of roads.

Palau_Terrestrial_PAs:
The terrestrial protected areas on Babeldaob, which were taken from a regional Micronesia Challenge protected area 2018 shapefile from Mike Aulerio at The Nature Conservancy, Palau Field Office, were used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to highlight burned areas inside and within 50 meters of protected areas.

Streams:
The island streams layer, which was created by PALARIS, was used with the select by location tool in ArcMap to highlight burned areas within 10 and 50 meters of streams and rivers.
Process_Date: 2023
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Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector
Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: GT-polygon composed of chains
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 1336
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Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: World Geodetic System of 1984
Ellipsoid_Name: World Geodetic System of 1984
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.0000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257223563
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Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
Below you will find a list and description of the files included in this data publication.

VARIABLE DESCRIPTION FILE (1)

1. \Data\_variable_descriptions.csv: Comma-separated values (CSV) file containing a list and description of variables found in all data files. (A description of these variables is also provided in the metadata below.)

Columns include:

Entity = name of SHP file or entity in the GPKG file
Variable = name of variable
Units = units (if applicable)
Description = description of variable


DATA FILES (9)

1. \Data\All_spatial_data.gpkg: OGC Geopackage (GPKG) containing data from all spatial data files (*.shp) included in this publication.


2. \Data\Babeldaob_Coast.shp: Shapefile (SHP) (and associated files) containing the coastline of Babeldaob Island, based on a 2006 satellite image.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

SHAPE_Leng = length of polygons in meters


3. \Data\Babeldaob_RepeatedBurnAreas_2012_2021.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing areas in Babeldaob Island that had repeated wildfires between 2012-2021.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

Area = area in square meters


4. \Data\BabeldaobVeg_Mangrove.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing the areal extent of mangrove vegetation for Babeldaob Island.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

Id = unique id

Area = area in square meters


5. \Data\bdry_poly.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing state boundaries on Babeldaob Island.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

AREA = area in square meters

PERIMETER = perimeter in meters

Name = Babeldaob State name


6. \Data\FinalRoads2015_Merge.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing Babeldaob Island roads based on an updates from a 2015 satellite image.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

Length = length of line segment in meters


7. Palau_Babeldaob_Fires_2012_2024.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing the location of Babeldaob Island wildfires from 2012 through 2024.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

PhotoID = date of imagery used combined with satellite type (WV01 = World View 1, WV02 = World View 2), and Island; each ID is unique and links the polygon to the downloaded image used to create that polygon

FireMonth = month that the fire most likely happened

Area = area in square meters (within 5-7.5 meters)

Year = year in which the wildfire occurred

Comments = comments that include any or all of the following: kind of satellite imagery used (World View 1, 2 and 3 [WV1, WV2, and WV3, respectively] and GeoEye-1 [GEO1]) - but the satellite type is not populated for 2016, observations about the imagery, date of spread, or additional information regarding when the fire most likely occurred

FireDate = date of fire (populated if it was known for GPS and aerial photo mapped fires) (± 4 days for satellite imagery) or left blank if too ambiguous

Island = island on which the fire occurred

Acreage = area in acres


8. \Data\Palau_Terrestrial_PAs.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing protected areas of Babeldaob Island (polygons clipped at shoreline to display terrestrial protected areas only).

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

Id = identifier (not unique, values unknown)

AREA = area in square meters

Name = location name


9. \Data\Streams.shp: SHP file (and associated files) containing Babeldaob Island streams composed from topographic maps.

Attributes include:

FID = internal feature number automatically generated by Esri

Shape = feature geometry automatically generated by Esri

LENGTH = length of line segment in meters
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
Dendy, Julian; Mesubed, Dino; Colin, Patrick L.; Giardina, Christian P.; Cordell, Susan; Holm, Tarita; Uowolo, Amanda. 2022. Dynamics of anthropogenic wildfire on Babeldaob Island (Palau) as revealed by fire history. Fire 5(2): 45. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5020045 and https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/64291
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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 January 2025. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Resource_Description: RDS-2022-0039-2
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: SHP
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Shapefile (and associated files)
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039-2
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: GPKG
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
OGC Geopackage
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2022-0039-2
Fees: None
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Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20250122
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
Contact_Person: Allyson R. Earl
Contact_Position: Wildfire Mapping Technician
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: 65-1279 Kawaihae Road, Suite 21
City: Kamuela
State_or_Province: HI
Postal_Code: 96743
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 808-885-0900
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: firetracking@hawaiiwildfire.org
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 Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
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https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/products/RDS-2022-0039-2/_metadata_RDS-2022-0039-2.html