Metadata Record Dublin Core Standard Title: Fire Regime and Condition Class Catalog Name: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection OID: 756 CITATION INFORMATION Identifier: cafrcc Title: Fire Regime and Condition Class Originator: CDF Publication Date: 2003 Edition: 03_2 Information Resource Type Format: Computer file Content: Geographic information system Scale: 100m pixels Other Citation Details: Derived from FRAP Multi-source Land Cover data v02_2, FRAP Fire Rotation data v02_1, FRAP Fuel Rank data v02_2. Map projection is Albers Equal Area, NAD27. IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION Abstract: Wildfire can cause serious and long-lasting damage to ecosystems. Following National Fire Plan concepts, FRAP has utilized data specific to California to describe ecosystems and fire-related metrics used in other analyses to define and describe fire-related risks to ecosystems. Fundamental to this idea is that current expected fires are compared to historic fire regimes with respect to fire frequency, size and patchiness, and effects on key ecosystem elements and processes. Thus, these classes are then assigned based on current vegetation type and structure, an understanding of its pre-settlement fire regime, and current conditions regarding expected fire frequency and potential fire behavior. As a result of these efforts, “Condition Classes” were defined as the “relative risk of losing key components that define an ecosystem (Hardy et al., 2001). Browse Graphic URL: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/data/browsegraphic/cafrcc.gif Purpose: Condition Class is a useful metric for determining relative risk of ecosystems to damage or loss from wildfire. As such, condition class is useful for determining areas in need of mitigation measures designed to improve ecosystem resilience and health when subjected to effects from wildfire. Supplemental Info: See FRAP Forest and Range 2003 Assessment on-line technical reports Trends in Wildland Fire and Wildfire Risk to Assets at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/ assessment2003. Time Period Start: 1/1/2003 Time Period End: 12/31/2003 Currentness: Ground Condition Progress: In Work Update Frequency: Annually Place: California Themes: Chaparral ecology, Ecology, Fire ecology, Forest ecology, Fire, Wildfires User Keywords: fire history, firehistory Access Limitations: No Restrictions Use Limitations: FRAP disclaimer Read disclaimer within data dictionary supplied when data are downloaded from FRAP site Contact Information Data Contact: FRAP Fire & Fuel Specialist Organization: CDF-FRAP Phone: 916-445-5369 Fax: 916-324-1180 Email: Dave.Sapsis@fire.ca.gov Url: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/ Address: 1920 20th Street 1920 20th Street City: Sacramento State: California Postal Code: 95814 Country: USA DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION Online Linkage: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/data/frapgisdata/select.asp Size (MB): 36MB (Statewide) Distribution Format: ARC/INFO Export Ordering Instructions: Obtain on-line or request through distribution contact. Contact Information Distribution Contact: FRAP data librarian Organization: CDF-FRAP Phone: 916-445-5342 Fax: 916-324-1180 Url: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov Address: 1920 20th Street 1920 20th Street City: Sacramento State: California Postal Code: 95814 Country: USA METADATA INFORMATION Date: 11/14/2003 Contact Information Metadata Contact: FRAP Fire & Fuel Specialist Organization: CDF-FRAP Phone: 916-445-5369 Fax: 916-324-1180 Email: Dave.Sapsis@fire.ca.gov Url: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/ Address: 1920 20th Street 1920 20th Street City: Sacramento State: California Postal Code: 95814 Country: USA DATA DICTIONARY =============== FEATURE TYPE: pixel DATABASE FIELDS: pixel INPUT OUTPUT DATA DECI FIELD NAME WIDTH WIDTH TYPE MALS DESCRIPTION ---------- ----- ------ ---- ---- --------------------------------- VALUE 4 10 B - COUNT 4 10 B - WHRNUM 4 16 B - Unique number for whrtype WHRNAME 40 35 C - Long name for whrtype WHRTYPE 3 3 C - Wildlife hab relationship code WHRSIZE 1 1 I - Whr tree size class code WHRDENSITY 1 1 C - Whr tree density class code FUEL_RANK 2 2 I - Potential Fire Behavior Rank FROTCLASS 1 1 I - Historical Fire Rotation Class CON_CLASS 1 1 I - Condition class REGIME 20 20 C - National Fire Regime class REGIME_NUM 3 3 I - National Fire Regime class code REGIME_CAL 3 3 I - California Fire Regime class FIELD NAME: WHRNUM, WHRNAME, WHRTYPE California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System (WHR) is "cross walked" from various sources, please review the document "Methods for Development of Habitat Acres Forest and Range Assessment 2003" on-line at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/projects/frap_veg/index.html WHRNUM WHRTYPE WHRNAME ------ ------- ----------------------------- 1 ADS Alpine-Dwarf Shrub 2 AGR Irrigated Agriculture 3 AGS Annual Grassland 4 ASC Alkali Desert Scrub 5 ASP Aspen 6 BAR Barren 7 BBR Bitterbrush 8 BOP Blue Oak-Foothill Pine 9 BOW Blue Oak Woodland 62 CHP Undetermined Shrub Type 63 CON Undetermined Conifer Type 10 COW Coastal Oak Woodland 11 CPC Closed-Cone Pine-Cypress 12 CRC Chamise-Redshank Chaparral 13 CSC Coastal Scrub 14 DFR Douglas-Fir 15 DRI Desert Riparian 17 DSC Desert Scrub 18 DSS Desert Succulent Shrub 19 DSW Desert Wash 20 EPN Eastside Pine 21 EST Estuarine 77 EUC Eucalyptus 22 FEW Freshwater Emergent Wetland 24 JPN Jeffrey Pine 25 JST Joshua Tree 26 JUN Juniper 27 KMC Klamath Mixed Conifer 28 LAC Lacustrine 29 LPN Lodgepole Pine 30 LSG Low Sage 31 MAR Marine 32 MCH Mixed Chaparral 34 MCP Montane Chaparral 35 MHC Montane Hardwood-Conifer 36 MHW Montane Hardwood 37 MRI Montane Riparian 72 PAS Non-Irrigated Pasture 39 PGS Perennial Grassland 40 PJN Pinyon-Juniper 41 POS Palm Oasis 42 PPN Ponderosa Pine 43 RIV Riverine 44 RDW Redwood 45 RFR Red Fir 48 SCN Subalpine Conifer 49 SEW Saline Emergent Wetland 50 SGB Sagebrush 51 SMC Sierran Mixed Conifer 53 URB Urban 55 VOW Valley Oak Woodland 56 VRI Valley Foothill Riparian 57 WAT Water 58 WFR White Fir 59 WTM Wet Meadow FIELD NAME: WHRSIZE California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System (WHR) Tree Size attribute is "cross walked" from various sources, please review the document "Methods for Development of Habitat Acres Forest and Range Assessment2003" on-line at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/projects/frap_veg/index.html TREE type size class code descriptions (Differs from SHRUB size) WHRSIZE DESCRIPTION DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT (DBH) ------- -------------- ------------------------------- 0 Not Determined N/A 1 Seedling Less Than 1 inch 2 Sapling 1 to 6 inches 3 Pole 6 to 11 inches 4 Small Tree 11 to 24 inches 5 Medium/Large Tree Greater Than 24 inches 6 Multi-layered Size 5 Over Size 4 Or 3; Total Tree Crown Closure Greater Than 60% CWHR Shrub Size Class Descriptions differ from Tree size attribute descriptions. FRAP staff used fire history to model CWHR habitat stages for shrub-dominated habitats. please review the document "Methods for Development of Habitat Acres Forest and Range Assessment 2003" on-line at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/projects/frap_veg/index.html SHRUB type size class code descriptions (Differs from Tree size) WHRSIZE (SHRUB) DESCRIPTION CROWN DECADENCE ------- --------------- ---------------------------- 0 Not Determined N/A 1 Seedling Shrub Seedlings or sprouts < 3 years 2 Young Shrub None 3 Mature Shrub 1 - 25% 4 Decadent Shrub > 25% FIELD NAME: WHRDENSITY California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System (WHR) Density attribute is "cross walked" from various sources, please review the document "Methods for Development of Habitat Acres Forest and Range Assessment 2003" on-line at http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/projects/frap_veg/index.html WHRDENSITY WHRDEN_NUM DESCRIPTION (WHR_RANGE) ---------- ---------- ----------------------- 0 None S 1 10 to 24% P 2 25 to 39% M 3 40 to 59% D 4 60 to 100% FIELD NAME: FUEL_RANK CDF has developed a Fuel Rank assessment methodology for the California Fire Plan to identify and prioritize pre-fire projects that reduce the potential for large catastrophic fire. The fuel ranking methodology assigns ranks based on expected fire behavior for unique combinations of topography and vegetative fuels under a given severe weather condition (wind speed, humidity, and temperature). The procedure makes an initial assessment of rank based on an assigned fuel model (see surface fuels) and slope;then potentially increases ranks based on the amount of ladder and/or crown fuel present to arrive at a final fuel rank. Initially developed at a 30 meter scale, this 100 meter representation of the data are combined with other data and used to identify wildfire threats. For more information visit: http://frap.cdf.ca.gov/data/fire_data/fuel_rank/index.html FUEL_RANK DESCRIPTION --------- --------- -1 Little or No Hazard 1 Moderate 2 High 3 Very High FIELD NAME: FROTCLASS Fire rotation class intervals are calculated from fifty years of fire history on land areas grouped into "strata" based on fire environment conditions. These strata are defined by climate, vegetation, and land ownership. The Fire Rotation interval is the number of years it would take for past fires to burn an area equivalent to the area of a given stratum. Fire rotation interval for a given stratum is calculated by dividing the annual number of acres burned into the total area of the stratum. Finally, fire rotation values are grouped into classes. The larger fire rotation values correspond to less frequent burning. In contrast The higher the rotation class value is, the more frequent fire is in that strata. In the fire threat analysis, more frequent fire is ranked higher to reflect a greater concern for non-fire tolerant assets such as housing. FROTCLASS DESCRIPTION NUMBER OF YEARS --------- ------------ --------------- 0 Undetermined Undetermined 1 Moderate > 300 Years 2 High 100 - 300 Years 3 Very High < 100 Years FIELD NAME: CON_CLASS Condition class refers to the general deviation of ecosystems from their presettlement natural fire regime (See REGIME and REGIME_CAL), and can be viewed as a measure of sensitivity to fire damage to key elements and processes typical of those ecosystems, or fire-related risk to ecosytem health. Fundamental to this idea is that current expected fires are compared to historic fire regimes with respect to fire frequency, size and patchiness, and effects on key ecosystem elements and processes. Thus, these classes are then assigned based on current vegetation type and structure, an understanding of its pre-settlement fire regime, and current conditions regarding expected fire frequency and potential fire behavior. As a result of these efforts, Condition Classes were defined as the relative risk of losing key components that define an ecosystem (Hardy et al., 2001). The conceptual basis is that for fire-adapted ecosystems, much of their ecological structure and processes are driven by fire, and disruption of fire regimes leads to changes in plant composition and structure, uncharacteristic fire behavior and other disturbance agents (pests), altered hydrologic processes and increased smoke production. Condition Class 1 is associated with low level disruption of fire regime, and consequently low risk to loss or damage. Condition Class 2 indicates some degree of departure from natural regimes, with assoicated changes in ecosystem composition and structure that render future fires a likelihood of some loss and change in elements and processes. Condition class 3 is highly divergent from natural regime conditions, and presents the highest level of risk of loss. CON_CLASS DESCRIPTION --------- ----------- 1 Fire regime within or near historical range. Risk of key ecosystem component loss low. 2 Fire regime moderately altered from historical range. Risk of key ecosystem component loss moderate. 3 Fire regime significantly altered from historical range. Risk of key ecosystem component loss high. 9 None Assigned (non-wildlands) FIELD NAME: REGIME, REGIME_NUM Fire regime refers to the pattern and variability of fire occurrence and its effect on vegetation. A simple statewide fire regime classification system provides an approximate idea of range in fire frequency and severity as it existed before European settlement. This classification is based on that developed in conjunction with the Coarse-Scale Condition Class assessment done for the National Fire Plan, modified from the USFS National Fire Plan Condition Class Assessment. (See http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/fuelman/ and Hardy et al. 2001 for further detail.) This classification, while highly generalized, can only illustrate coarse differences in fire regimes. However, the resulting analysis is appropriate given the statewide scale of inquiry, where broad differences in regimes point out significant implications for managing wildland fire at the regional scale (Hann and Bunnell, 2001). Regime is assigned based on current vegetation mapping, using WHR type as the independent variable. It should be noted that grassland/herbaceous dominated types that were previously mapped into Regime II have been assigned into Regime I in these data, due to their ability to resume most composition and structure in the first year following fire. REGIME REGIME_NUM DESCRIPTION ------ ---------- -------------- I 1 0-35 year fire frequency, low severity II 2 0-35 year frequency, high severity III 3 35-100+ year frequency, mixed severity IV 4 35-100+ year frequency, high severity V 5 200+ year frequency, high severity Urban -28 Urbanized land cover Agriculture -97 Agriculture Water -98 Water (including wetlands) Barren -99 Barren/Rock FIELD NAME: REGIME_CAL REGIME_CAL is a similar classification to the national regime classification above, but differs slightly in that a more complete set of frequency/severity combinations are included. REGIME_CAL DESCRIPTION ---------- ----------- 11 0-35 year frequency, low severity 12 0-35 year frequency, mixed severity 21 35-100 year frequency, low severity 22 35-100 year frequency, mixed severity 23 35-100 year frequency, high severity 32 100+ year frequency, mixed severity 32 100+ year frequency, high severity -28 Urbanized land cover -97 Agriculture -98 Water (including wetlands) -99 Barren REFERENCES Hann, W.J. and D.L. Bunnell. 2001. Fire and land management planning and implementation across multiple scales. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10(3 & 4):389-403. Hardy, C.C., K.M. Schmidt, J.P. Menakis, and R.N. Sampson. 2001. Spatial data for national fire planning and fuel management. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10(3 & 4):353-372. COORDINATE SYSTEM DESCRIPTION Projection ALBERS Datum NAD27 Units METERS Spheroid CLARKE1866 Parameters: 1st standard parallel 34 0 0.000 2nd standard parallel 40 30 0.000 central meridian -120 0 0.00 latitude of projection's origin 0 0 0.000 false easting (meters) 0.00000 false northing (meters) -4000000.0000 DISCLAIMER The State of California and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy of data or maps. The user will not seek to hold the State or the Department liable under any circumstances for any damages with respect to any claim by the user or any third party on account of or arising from the use of data or maps. The user will cite the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as the original source of the data, but will clearly denote cases where the original data have been updated, modified, or in any way altered from the original condition. There are no restrictions on distribution of the data by users. However, users are encouraged to refer others to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to acquire the data, in case updated data become available.