Burn Intensity for the 1989 Lowman Fire within Boise National Forest, Idaho

Burn Intensity for the 1989 Lowman Fire within Boise National Forest, Idaho

Frequently-asked questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Burn Intensity for the 1989 Lowman Fire within Boise National Forest, Idaho

Abstract: 
This data set reflects fire intensity as measured by canopy scorch for the 1989 Lowman Fire along the South Fork of the Payette River within Boise National Forest, Idaho.

Supplemental information: 
Procedures_Used:
Field survey teams collected information, and mapped areas on 1:24000 USGS topographic maps.  Burn areas were digitized and attributed in PC Arcinfo 3.x on a 9100 Calcomp digitizer.

Other_References_Cited:
Lowman-North Fire Recovery Project, Boise National Forest, Final Environmental Impact Statement, USDA Forest Service May, 1990.  On file at the Boise National Forest.

Project Lightning, Technical Reports, Boise National Forest, 1990.  On file

Wildfire Recovery, Project Lightning, GIS Data Dictionary.  On file.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Boise National Forest GIS staff, Unknown, Burn Intensity for the 1989 Lowman Fire within Boise National Forest, Idaho: Boise National Forest GIS Staff, Boise, ID, USA.

    Online links:
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -115.65612305
    East: -115.39172974
    North: 44.18525805
    South: 44.0147306

  3. What does it look like?

    http://insideidaho.org/data/BNF/image/lowmfire_bnf_bnf.gif (GIF)
    Simple image of the data set at full extent

    Thumbnail image:

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar date: 1989
    Currentness reference: 
    ground condition

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial data presentation form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Complete chain (560)
      • Label point (215)
      • GT-polygon composed of chains (215)
      • Point (32)
      • Label point (0)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The grid coordinate system used is Universal Transverse Mercator

      Universal Transverse Mercator
      UTM zone number: 11
      Transverse Mercator projection parameters:
      Scale factor at central meridian: 0.999600
      Longitude of central meridian: -117.000000
      Latitude of projection origin: 0.000000
      False easting: 500000.000000
      False northing: 0.000000

      Planar coordinates are encoded using Coordinate Pair.
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1.
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1.
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.9786982.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    LOWMFIRE.PAT
    Polygon attribute table, user-defined attributes fire severity (bin-sym) (Source: Field observation)

    -
    Polygon attribute table, user-defined attributes fire severity (bin-sym) (Source: Field observation)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    AREA
    Area of poly/region in square coverage units (Source: Computed)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    LOWMFIRE#
    Internal feature number (Source: Computed)

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    LOWMFIRE-ID
    User-assigned feature number (Source: User-defined)

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    PERIMETER
    Perimeter of poly/region in coverage units (Source: Computed)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    LOWMFIRE-ID
    Fire severity (Source: Field observation)

    BIN-SYM
    Entity and attribute overview: 
    lowmfire.pat - describes fire severity
L (low)
M (moderate)
H (high)
N (unburned)

(Wildfire Recovery, Project Lightning GIS Data Dictionary - on file )
N = No Burn
L = Light Burn (litter and duff scorched, not altered over entire depth)
M = Moderate Burn (40-80% plant canopy burned, mineral soil not visibly altered)
H = High Burn ( Organic layer consumed, mineral and soil structure and color altered)

(Lowman-North Fire Recovery Project, Final EIS, 5/1990 - on file)

Lightly burned or low - surface litter, rotten wood and other woody debris often charred, not completely consumed.  Lower duff in organic layer partially burned.  Logs not deeply charred.  Mineral soil not changed in color.  Hydrophobic soil conditions rarely occur.  Root crowns and surface roots of grasses show high potential for resprouting.  Area classed as low < 2% high burn and < 15% moderate burn.

Moderate - surface litter, roten wood and other woody debris partially or whooly consumed by fire.  Lower duff partially-wholly consumed.  Logs may be deeply charred.  Mineral soil under ash not appreciably chnaged in color.
Hydrophobic conditions may occur. Root crowns and surface roots partially to whollyconsumed, resprouting inhibited.  Areas classed as moderate < 10% high, 50-90% moderate.

High - surface and lower duff completely consumed.  Logs deeply charred.  Top layer mineral soil generally changed in color.  Hydrophobic soils common.  Surface rocks split from heat Root crowns and surface roots usually destroyed, resprouting limited.  Areas classed as high, usually > 80% moderate and severly burned.

* Note, Sometimes fire severity is confused with fire intensity, and terms are used incorrectly or interchangeably.  Fire severity is a measure of the effects on soil.  Fire intensity is a measure of the "above ground" effects on vegetation, such as canopy scorch.  The GIS fire layer was called intensity, but the information collected describes severity.  Other confusion exists in teh "WO Amendment 2509.1 " (8/3/92) to the Forest Service Handbook which defines Low/Medium/High Fire Intensity, but is actually describing Fire Severiy.

    Entity and attribute detail citation: 
    Not Available
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Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

    • Boise National Forest GIS staff

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Diane McConnaughey
    Boise National Forest GIS Staff
    GIS Specialist
    1249 South Vinnell Way
Suite 200
    Boise, ID 83709
    USA

    (208) 373-4247 (voice)
    dmcconnaughey@fs.fed.us
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Why was the data set created?

The data are intended to assist efforts surrounding broad-scale forest planning for analysis in fire-recovery: soil stabilization, reestablishing vegetation, and protection of other resources such as wildlife, riparian habitat, water quality, fisheries and timber. These data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:24,000-scale data. Minimum polygon mapping is 50-100 acres, at 1:24000. No responsibility is assumed by the Boise National Forest GIS Staff in the use of these data.

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How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: 19891121 (change 1 of 10) 
    IMPORT COVER BIN BIN

    Date: 19980616 (change 2 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA IMPORT COVER LOWBIN LOWBIN

    Date: 19980623 (change 3 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA   DOCUMENT LOWBIN CREATE DMCCONNA

    Date: 19980623 (change 4 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA   DOCUMENT LOWBIN UPDATE DMCCONNA

    Date: 19980623 (change 5 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA COPY LOWBIN /FSFILES/REF/LIBRARY/GIS/BOISE/FIRE/LOWMANFIRE

    Date: 19980623 (change 6 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA EXPORT COVER /FSFILES/REF/LIBRARY/GIS/BOISE/FIRE/LOWMANFIRE LOWFIRE.E00

    Date: 19980903 (change 7 of 10) 
    DMCCONNA EXPORT COVER LOWMANFIRE /FSFILES/FSTMP/LOWMANFIRE.E00

    Date: 20000424 (change 8 of 10) 
    CKOLLENB EXPORT COVER LOWMANFIRE LOWMANFIRE.E00

    Date: 20000707 (change 9 of 10) 
    PROJECTCOPY COVER BBEXPFOR COVER LOWMFIRE

The original ArcInfo coverage did not have a projection defined.

    Person responsible for change:
    Lily Wai
    University of Idaho Library
    Head of Government Documents
    University of Idaho Library
    Moscow, ID 83844-2350
    USA

    208-885-6344 (voice)
    208-885-6817 (FAX)
    lwai@uidaho.edu
    Hours of Service: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (Pacific Time), Monday - Friday

    Date: 20000707 (change 10 of 10) 
    EXPORT COVER LOWMFIRE LOWMFIRE_BNF_BNF.E00

The orginal coverage contributed by Diane McConnaughey was imported into ARC/INFO, renamed, and exported.  The file was then compressed using GZIP.

Metadata included with the original coverage (created using DOCUMENT.AML) was imported.  If the metadata was not FGDC compliant, it was updated to be compliant.

    Person responsible for change:
    Bruce Godfrey
    University of Idaho Library
    GIS Specialist
    PO Box 442350
    Moscow, ID 83844-2350
    USA

    208-885-6463 (voice)
    208-885-6817 (FAX)
    bgodfrey@uidaho.edu

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How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    See Entity_Attribute_Information

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Unknown

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    Unknown

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    Polygon topology present.

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How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None
Use constraints: 
None

Distributor 1 of 1

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    Bruce Godfrey
    University of Idaho Library
    GIS Specialist
    PO Box 442350
    Moscow, ID 83844-2350
    USA

    208-885-6463 (voice)
    208-885-6817 (FAX)
    bgodfrey@uidaho.edu

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the University of Idaho Library, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

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Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 19980623
Last reviewed: 20040527

Metadata author:
Diane McConnaughey
Boise National Forest GIS Staff
GIS Specialist
1249 South Vinnell Way
Suite 200
Boise, ID 83709
USA

(208) 373-4247 (voice)
dmcconnaughey@fs.fed.us

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata(FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

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