Spatial datasets of probabilistic wildfire risk components for the United States (270m): 2nd edition

National data on burn probability (BP) and conditional flame-length probability (FLP) were generated for the conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska, and Hawaii using a geospatial Fire Simulation (FSim) system developed by the USDA Forest Service Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Finney et al. 2011). The FSim system includes modules for weather generation, wildfire occurrence, fire growth, and fire suppression. FSim is designed to simulate the occurrence and growth of wildfires under tens of thousands of hypothetical contemporary fire seasons in order to estimate the probability of a given area (i.e., pixel) burning under current (circa 2014) landscape conditions and fire management practices. The data presented here represent modeled BP and conditional flame-length probability for the United States (US) at a 270-meter grid spatial resolution. Flame-length probability is estimated for six standard Fire Intensity Levels. The six FILs correspond to flame-length classes as follows: FIL1 = < 2 feet (ft); FIL2 = 2 < 4 ft.; FIL3 = 4 < 6 ft.; FIL4 = 6 < 8 ft.; FIL5 = 8 < 12 ft.; FIL6 = 12+ ft. Because they indicate conditional probabilities (i.e., representing the likelihood of burning at a certain intensity level, given that a fire occurs), the FLP data must be used in conjunction with the BP data for risk assessment.
National-scale assessment of wildfire risk offers a consistent means of understanding and comparing threats to valued resources and assets and predicting and prioritizing investments in management activities that mitigate those risks. We used a simulation system to estimate the probabilistic components of wildfire risk across the nation. We generated the data in three volumes: (I) the conterminous U.S. (CONUS), (II) Alaska, and (III) Hawaii. These outputs have been generated to support a number of national planning and risk assessment efforts.
These data are a newer edition of the Short et al. (2016) data publication. This second edition is based on circa 2014 landscape data, which were the most current LANDFIRE products available at the time of production. It is also expanded to include Alaska and Hawaii at 270-meter resolution.