California fire severity prediction maps by region

Project Title:  View help for Project Title California fire severity prediction maps by region

Summary:  View help for Summary This data publication contains a spatial database of potential fire severity raster datasets for California, using data from 1984 to 2022. The data collection and raster production was conducted as part of the California Fire Severity Prediction Mapping Project which models fire severity across California by region: Klamath, North Coast, Northeast, North Sierra, East Sierra, South Sierra, South Coast and Central Coast. The California Fire Severity Project uses the Random Forest modeling platform to create two empirically based fire severity prediction (forecast) models for every pixel in each of the eight regions (16 total models) that are based on spatial, temporal, and environmental information. The non-reburn model produces fire severity potential estimates for areas that have not burned since 1984 while the reburn model estimates potential fire severity for landscapes that have burned at least once since 1984. Potential Fire Severity model output is classified into one of three classes based on the liklihood that a pixel within the area of interest will burn at low, moderate, or high severity when burned by future wildfire. Initially two maps are produced for each region, an initial fire severity potential map covers non-reburn landscapes (no fire since 1984), and a reburn fire severity potential map (areas have been burned at least once since 1984). The initial and reburn potential fire severity maps are merged into a single raster based map layer referred to as combined potential fire severity. This data package includes a geodatabase for each region in California, and within each geodatabase there are separate potential fire severity raster layers that for the initial non-reburn areas, reburned areas, and both the non-reburn and reburned areas combined. This package also includes the R scripts and Google Earth Engine scripts used to produce the fire severity rasters.

Original Distribution URL:  View help for Original Distribution URL https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2026-0034

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms biota; environment; Fire; Fire ecology; Fire effects on environment; Natural Resource Management & Use; Forest management; fire severity; fire ecology; historical wildfire; California

Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage California

Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1984 – 2022

Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) geographic information system (GIS) data; program source code

Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes DOI: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0034 Authors: Drury, Stacy A. ; Benoit, John W. ; Fleming, Sean P. ; Harris, Lucas B. ; Taylor, Alan H. Publication year: 2026 (Downloaded 2026-05-26)