Summary by wildfire of all postfire erosion modeled estimates and field-based observation for large fires 1984—2021

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Summary by wildfire of all postfire erosion modeled estimates and field-based observation for large fires 1984—2021
Abstract:
These data show all the postfire erosion results affiliated with this data release summed by wildfire and attached to a polygon of each fire perimeter, as defined by Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS). The results are shown as attributes for each polygon of wildfire perimeter. Some of the original MTBS data (name, ignition date, and ID) were preserved to allow for joining to other MTBS data. Results include WEPP modeling results of hillslope and channel erosion, a sum of postfire debris flow modeling results and field-based measurements, and a few derived results such as total sediment and total yield (mass per area).
Supplemental_Information:
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document the dataset in nonproprietary form, as well as in Esri format, this metadata file may include some Esri-specific terminology.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Dow, Helen, Kostelnik, Jaimeime, Kean, Jason W., and Lindsay, Donald N., 20240807, Summary by wildfire of all postfire erosion modeled estimates and field-based observation for large fires 1984—2021: data release DOI:10.5066/P9CG3DRR, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Dow, Helen W., Kostelnik, Jaime, Kean, Jason W., and Lindsay, Donald N., 2024, Postfire erosion estimates for large California wildfires that occurred between 1984 and 2021: data release DOI:10.5066/P9CG3DRR, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested Citation: Dow, H.W., Kostelnik, J., Kean, J.W., and Lindsay, D.N., 2024, Postfire erosion estimates for large California wildfires that occurred between 1984 and 2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9CG3DRR.
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.033608
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -115.179283
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.623928
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 32.542585
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 1984
    Ending_Date: 2021
    Currentness_Reference:
    This shapefile contains data on wildfires that occurred during this time period.
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: shapefile
  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):
      • G-polygon (196)
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    MTBSperims_LargeFires1984to2021_WEPPandPFDFresults.shp
    Shapefile consisting of wildfire perimeters from MTBS joined to postfire erosion estimates produced using a combination of models and observations (Source: Producer defined.)
    Event_ID
    Unique ID for each wildfire (Source: MTBS) The Event-ID is generated by combining several attributes taken from the fire ignition location and start date. The Event-ID is constructed from the two-letter state abbreviation, the decimal degree latitude and longitude, both carried to the third decimal place without the decimal point (if less than 100 degrees the longitude is padded with a leading '0'), and the start date formatted as YYYYMMDD [copied from MTBS].
    Event_ID
    Wildfire identifier in the MTBS system (Source: MTBS) Unique identifier for each wildfire
    Incid_Name
    Wildfire name (Source: MTBS) Unique name identifying each wildfire
    Ig_Date
    Date of wildfire ignition (Source: MTBS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:7/1/1985
    Maximum:9/12/2021
    Units:mm/dd/yyyy
    DFmass_kg
    Sum of modeled and observed postfire debris flow mass for each wildfire. (Source: producer-defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:6363100000
    Units:kilograms
    wepp_sed
    Sum of sediment mass eroded from hillslopes within the fire perimeter during the first water year (Oct 1 – Sep 30) following the fire year as predicted by the WEPP model. (Source: producer-defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:1474080878.45
    Units:kilograms
    total_sed
    Sum of WEPP-derived hillslope sediment and debris-flow-derived sediment. (Source: producer-defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:6400616887.53
    Units:kilograms
    area
    Polygon area as calculated in a geographic information system (GIS) within Albers conical projection (Source: producer-defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:12.380700
    Maximum:4325.250000
    Units:square kilometers
    yield
    total_sed divided by area. (Source: producer-defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:23036918.8073
    Units:kilograms per square kilometer
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    This dataset contains a summary of the postfire erosion results presented in Dow and others, 2024. Here the results for each wildfire are summarized and joined to the wildfire perimeter as produced by Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Helen Dow
    • Jaimeime Kostelnik
    • Jason W. Kean
    • Donald N. Lindsay
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA

    831-427-4747 (voice)
    pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These data were produced as part of a USGS effort to estimate post-fire erosion across California from large wildfires between 1984 and 2021. Although data were produced at the watershed scale, we summed all watersheds associated with each fire in order to rank fires by postfire mass and yield.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    MTBS perims (source 1 of 3)
    Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) Agency, 2007, MTBS Geospatial Datasets: Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS), online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital
    Source_Contribution:
    We used the burn perimeters from MTBS to define the fire-affected region.
    WEPP results (source 2 of 3)
    Dow, Helen W., 2024, Postfire erosion modeling results using the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model for all large wildfires in California, 1984–2021: ScienceBase, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital
    Source_Contribution:
    We used the WEPP results from this same data release to estimate hillslope and channel erosion following wildfire.
    PFDF results (source 3 of 3)
    Dow, Helen W., Kostelnik, Jaime, Kean, Jason W., and Lindsay, Donald N., 2024, Post-fire debris-flow volumes and their associated observation, location, and volume sources.: ScienceBase, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital
    Source_Contribution:
    These data from this same data release summarize the contribution that postfire debris flows (PFDFs) made to annual postfire sediment erosion for each wildfire and the sources for the documentation of those debris flows, the locations of the debris flows, and the volumes of the debris flows, be it from field measurements or model.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2022 (process 1 of 3)
    We used these data to find wildfires larger than one hundred square kilometers and all the data associated with them including their official MTBS names, ignition date, and perimeters. We then used the perimeters to create watersheds to run in the Water Erosion Prediction Project model (WEPP) and the names to look for documentation of postfire debris flows. Data sources used in this process:
    • MTBS perims
    Date: 2023 (process 2 of 3)
    We used the WEPP results from this data release to estimate hillslope and channel erosion following wildfire. We then combined this with postfire debris flow modeling results and observations to produce annual postfire sediment budgets for California statewide, and northern and southern California. These data are analyzed and described in the associated publication (Dow and others, 2024). Data sources used in this process:
    • WEPP results
    • PFDF results
    Date: 09-Oct-2024 (process 3 of 3)
    The metadata file was edited to correct an extra space in the Network Resource links. No data were changed. (mau@usgs.gov)
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Dow, Helen W., East, Amy E., Sankey, Joel B., Warrick, Jonathan A., Kostelnik, Jaime, Lindsay, Donald N., and Kean, Jason W., 2024, Postfire sediment mobilization and its downstream implications across California, 1984–2021.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Dow, H.W., East, A., Sankey, J.B., Warrick, J., Kostelnik, J., Lindsay, D.N., and Kean, J.W., 2024, Postfire sediment mobilization and its downstream implications across California, 1984 – 2021: Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007725.
    Eidenshink, Jeff, Schwind, Brian, Brewer, Ken, Zhu, Zhi-Liang, Quayle, Brad, and Howard, Stephen, 2007, A Project for Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Eidenshink, J., Schwind, B., Brewer, K., Zhu, Z.-L., Quayle, B., & Howard, S. (2007). A Project for Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity. Fire Ecology, 3(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0301003

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    There are numerous sources of uncertainty in our dataset of mass mobilized by postfire erosion and debris flows such that rigorously quantifying the uncertainty was not possible. For a detailed summary of all sources of uncertainty we refer the reader to Dow and others 2024, the publication associated with this data release.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    MTBS has a stated horizontal resolution of 30 m for its perimeters. As such, these data have a horizontal accuracy of 30 m.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    The shapefile was checked for completeness.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    This dataset was checked for logical consistency.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints No access constraints
Use_Constraints USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey as the originator(s) of the dataset and in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? These data are available in shapefile format (MTBSperims_LargeFires1984to2021_WEPPandPFDFresults.shp and associated files) contained in a single zip file (MTBSperims_LargeFires1984to2021_WEPPandPFDFresults.zip) accompanied by CSDGM FGDC-compliant metadata.
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    These data can be viewed with any geospatial software.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 09-Oct-2024
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA

831-427-4747 (voice)
pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/ScienceBase/DR_P9CG3DRR/MTBSperims_LargeFires1984to2021_WEPPandPFDFresults_metadata_0324.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.51 on Fri Oct 18 09:43:54 2024