Research Database
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USGS Fire Science - Fire danger monitoring and forecasting
Year: 2012
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) uses moderate resolution satellite data to assess live fuel condition for estimating fire danger. Using 23 years of vegetation condition measurements, we are able to determine the relative greenness of current live fuels. High relative greenness values indicate the vegetation is healthy and vigorous; low greenness values indicate the vegetation is under stress, dry (possibly from drought), behind in annual development, or dead. Forest, shrub, and grassland vegetation with low relative greenness are susceptible to fire ignition during the fire season…
Publication Type: Report
Long-term perspective on wildfires in the western USA
Year: 2012
Understanding the causes and consequences of wildfires in forests of the western United States requires integrated information about fire, climate changes, and human activity on multiple temporal scales. We use sedimentary charcoal accumulation rates to construct long-term variations in fire during the past 3,000 y in the American West and compare this record to independent firehistory data from historical records and fire scars. There has been a slight decline in burning over the past 3,000 y, with the lowest levels attained during the 20th century and during the Little Ice Age (LIA, ca.…
Publication Type: Report