Paul D Henne

Pre-fire biomass, burn severity, biomass consumption, and fire perimeter data for the 1987 Black Dragon Fire in China

Geospatial data were developed to characterize pre-fire biomass, burn severity, and biomass consumed for the Black Dragon Fire that burned in northern China in 1987. Pre-fire aboveground tree biomass (Mh/ha) raster data were derived by relating plot-level forest inventory data with pre-fire Landsat imagery from 1986 and 1987. Biomass data were generated for individual species: Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii Rupr. Kuzen), white birch (Betula platyphylla Suk), aspen (Populus davidiana Dode and Populus suaveolens Fischer), and Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica Litvinov). A raster layer of total aboveground tree biomass was also generated. Burned area was manually delineated using the normalized...

Tags: Boreal forest, Carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, China, Ecology, Forestry, All tags... Land Use Change, Remote Sensing, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildfire, Fewer tags

An aridity threshold model of fire sizes and annual area burned in extensively forested ecoregions of the western USA

Wildfire occurrence varies among regions and through time due to the long-term impacts of climate on fuel structure and short-term impacts on fuel flammability. Identifying the climatic conditions that trigger extensive fire years at regional scales can enable development of area burned models that are both spatially and temporally robust, which is crucial for understanding the impacts of past and future climate change. We identified region-specific thresholds in fire-season aridity that distinguish years with limited, moderate, and extensive area burned for 11 extensively forested ecoregions in the western United States. We developed a new area burned model using these relationships and demonstrate its application...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation

Forested areas in the Western U.S. that are impacted by disturbances such as fire and drought have increased in recent decades. This trend is likely to continue, with the increase in frequency and extent of wildfire activity being especially concerning. Resource managers need reliable scientific information to better understand wildfire occurrence, which can vary substantially across landscapes and throughout time. However, few scientific models capture this variability, and projections of future potential changes in fire occurrence can include some uncertainty. This uncertainty can limit our ability to anticipate potential wildfire impacts on society and ecological systems. Another method to help managers prepare...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2020, CASC, Completed, Drought, Drought, All tags... Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Fire, Fire, Forests, Forests, Landscapes, Landscapes, North Central, North Central CASC, Projects by Region, Fewer tags

Simulated annual area burned for eleven extensively forested ecoregions in the western United States for 1980 - 2099

This data release provides output produced by a statistical, aridity threshold fire model for 11 extensively forested ecoregions in the western United States. We identified thresholds in fire-season climate water deficit (FSCWD) that distinguish years with limited, moderate, and extensive area burned for each ecoregion. We developed a new area burned model using these relationships and used it to simulate annual area burned using historical climate from 1980 - 2020 and output from global climate models (GCMs) from 1980 - 2099. The data release includes a comparison of mean annual FSCWD for 13 GCMs that we used to select five GCMs that bracket the range of conditions projected for the RCP 8.5 emissions scenario....

Tags: Area burned model, Climate change, Climatic water deficit, Ecology, Ecoregions, All tags... Global climate models, Southern Rocky Mountains, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Wildfire, Fewer tags

Landscape inputs and simulation output for the LANDIS-II model in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

This data release provides inputs needed to run the LANDIS-II landscape change model, NECN and Base Fire extensions for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), USA, and simulation results that underlie figures and analysis in the accompanying publication. We ran LANDIS-II simulations for 112 years, from 1988-2100, using interpolated weather station data for 1988-2015 and downscaled output from 5 general circulation models (GCMs) for 2016-2100. We also included a control future scenario with years drawn from interpolated weather station data from 1980-2015. Model inputs include raster maps (250 × 250 m grid cells) of climate regions and tables of monthly temperature and precipitation for each climate region. We...

Tags: Ecology, Ecosystem carbon, Forestry, General circulation models, Greater Yellowstone Ecoystem, All tags... Idaho, USA, LANDIS-II, Landsat, Landscape change model, Montana, USA, Pinus contorta, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Rocky Mountains, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Vegetation imputation, Wildfire, Wyoming, USA, Yellowstone National Park, aboveground forest biomass, forest ecosystems, Fewer tags