My name is Camille Stevens-Rumann, and I am the
instructor for REM407 - GIS Applications in Fire Ecology and Management.
Please email me at
csrumann@uidaho.edu
for further information about this course or to get access to the lessons.
GIS in fire research?
Joint Fire Science Program - Research in Fire - http://jfsp.nifc.gov/
Rocky Mountain Research Station
http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/main/fire_res.html
National Center for Atmospheric Research http://www.mmm.ucar.edu/fire/firehome.html
Park Resources http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/fire/fire_res.htm
Natural hazards - Wildfire
http://www.usgs.gov/hazards/wildfires/
What
is REM407 about?
This
course introduces the student to applications of GIS in fire ecology
research and management. The course gives the student insight in fire
incident mapping, creation of fire progression maps, GIS overlay
analysis, fire severity assessments using remote sensing, and fire atlas
data. We read and discuss research papers related to GIS and fire
research, engage in hands-on exercises producing BARC maps, fuel model
maps, analyzing fire-atlas data, and GIS overlay analysis of topography,
vegetation and burned areas etc. Through demonstrations, reading, and
exercises this course also gives the student a more in-depth
understanding of the role of GIS in FRCC assessments, modeling with
Farsite and using the Landfire spatial products.
Lesson Overviews
Lesson 1 Overview
This lesson provides an overview in the use of spatial technology in
fire incident mapping.
Lesson 2 Overview
Overlay analysis is at the heart of GIS, representing a series of
analysis techniques that combines the information from two or more data
layers and reports in what way they coincide. The analyst can here find
spatial relationships that were previously unknown and test for
statistical significance.
Lesson 3 Overview
A Fire Atlas is a GIS data layer where fire perimeters from all (or
most) fires within and area are stored. The fires are commonly labeled
by the year the fire burned, the name of the fire and sometimes fire
severity. Fire atlases are used for display, analysis and data storage.
In this lesson you will learn how fire atlases are stored in a GIS
database and how you can display and analyze the data to find
information about fire frequency, fire rotation, fire overlays and more.
Lesson 4 Overview
The first module covers the concepts of fire risk and hazard, discusses
various types of fire risk and risk maps and how they can be created
using a GIS and fire behavior modeling software. The second module gives
the students insight in how a fire progression map is created and can be
used in research.
Lesson 5 Overview
Fire behavior and spread can be modeled using fire behavior models such
as Behave, FlamMap, Farsite etc. This lesson demonstrates how to prepare
spatial data (fuel models, topography, etc.) and weather to be inputs in
the spatially explicit fire growth simulation model Farsite. Students
will also view a demonstration on how to run Farsite.
Lesson 6 Overview
Landscape scale assessments of burn severity currently involve
computation of the radiometric index NBR (Normalized Burn Ratio), which
is derived from Landsat satellite sensor images before and after the
fire. Lesson 6 gives an overview of the theory behind landscape scale
burn severity assessments, and insight in what is required to perform
these computations. We also read about and discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of current methods.
Lesson 7 Overview
Successional modeling at a landscape scale is a useful tool in
assessments of broad-scale, long-term trends in landscape composition.
In this Lesson you will learn about succession and disturbance dynamics
in a sagebrush-western juniper ecosystem and how these dynamics can be
modeled in a spatially explicit environment to estimate the broad-scale
landscape composition at different fire regimes. GIS and spatial
technology play an important role in the initial development of maps,
database management during the model run and in display and analysis of
the results.
Lesson 8 Overview
Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) is an interagency, standardized tool
for determining the degree of departure from reference condition
vegetation, fuels and disturbance regimes at a landscape scale. Lesson 8
briefly reviews the FRCC concept and theory and explains the role GIS
plays in landscape scale FRCC assessments. Landfire is a five-year,
multi-partner project producing consistent and comprehensive maps and
data describing vegetation, wildland fuel, and fire regimes across the
United States. Landfire concepts, theory and data products are
introduced in Module 2 of this lesson.
Lesson 9 Overview
Through this course you have been introduced to examples of how GIS can
be used to solve problems and answer questions in natural resource
applications, particularly in fire ecology and management. The final
project will give you an opportunity to apply what you have learned in
this class to a GIS analysis application of your own choice using
self-selected data or class data.
