Fire Fuel Mapping - Satellite Mapping of Vegetation Parameters for National Fire Fuels Assessment

Improved vegetation mapping techniques and the development of large-area vegetation datasets are required for nationwide fire fuels assessment. R&D is needed to support firefighting preparedness, to reduce fire hazards in the wildland-urban interface, and to assess fire effects on ecosystems.

Research Problems:

Mapping fire fuels requires data and information about vegetation types, structure, and green biomass. How can we design mapping and modeling techniques to measure canopy height, canopy density (closure), and rangeland vegetation in an operational mode? Can we effectively derive desired variables by integrating field data with satellite imagery? Will ecological modeling be effective for deriving vegetation types and structure classes? Will the overall mapping strategy be repeatable? Can re-measured field plot data drive updating of land/vegetation maps? There is also a critical need to incorporate hyperspectral, LIDAR, IFSAR technologies for land and vegetation mapping and characterization.

Research and Application Projects:

• Testing an Approach to Improving Fire Fuel Mapping by Modeling Fuel Structure and Types Based on Combined Satellite Imagery and Field Data
• Funded by Joint Fire Science Program
• Project duration: October 2000 - September 2003
• LANDFIRE Project
• Funded jointly by the Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service
• Project duration: March 2002 - February 2005