LANDFIRE VCC (Vegetation Condition Class) v1.4.0

LANDFIRE/Fire/VCC/v1_4_0
Dataset Availability
2014-09-01T00:00:00Z–2014-09-01T00:00:00Z
Dataset Provider
Earth Engine Snippet
ee.ImageCollection("LANDFIRE/Fire/VCC/v1_4_0")

Description

LANDFIRE (LF), Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools, is a shared program between the wildland fire management programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, U.S. Department of the Interior's Geological Survey, and The Nature Conservancy.

Landfire (LF) Historical fire regimes, intervals, and vegetation conditions are mapped using the Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT). These data support fire and landscape management planning goals in the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy, and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.

Vegetation Condition Class (VCC) represents a simple categorization of the associated Vegetation Departure (VDEP) layer and indicates the general level to which current vegetation is different from the simulated historical vegetation reference conditions. VDEP and VCC are based upon methods originally described in Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook, but are not identical to those methods. Full descriptions of the methods used can be found in the VDEP product description. Users should review those methods before comparing VDEP or VCC values across LANDFIRE (LF) versions. VCC is a derivative of the VDEP layer. It is important to read and understand the characteristics of the VDEP spatial product, particularly if VCC values are compared across versions as the VDEP methods varied which directly impacts across-version VDEP and VCC comparability. In LF 2012, the original three VCC classes were divided in half to create six VCC classes to provide additional precision.

The LANDIFRE Fire datasets include:

  • Fire Regime Groups (FRG) is intended to characterize presumed historical fire regimes within landscapes based on interactions between vegetation dynamics, fire spread, fire effects, and spatial context
  • Mean Fire Return Interval (MFRI) quantifies the average period between fires under the presumed historical fire regime
  • Percent of Low-severity Fire (PLS) image quantifies the amount of low-severity fires relative to mixed- and replacement-severity fires under the presumed historical fire regime and is defined as less than 25 percent average top-kill within a typical fire perimeter for a given vegetation type
  • Percent of Mixed-severity Fire (PMS) layer quantifies the amount of mixed-severity fires relative to low- and replacement-severity fires under the presumed historical fire regime, and is defined as between 25 and 75 percent average top-kill within a typical fire perimeter for a given vegetation type
  • Percent of Replacement-severity Fire (PRS) layer quantifies the amount of replacement-severity fires relative to low- and mixed-severity fires under the presumed historical fire regime, and is defined as greater than 75 percent average top-kill within a typical fire perimeter for a given vegetation type
  • Succession Classes (SClass) layer characterizes current vegetation conditions with respect to the vegetation species composition, cover, and height ranges of successional states that occur within each biophysical setting
  • Vegetation Condition Class (VCC) represents a simple categorization of the associated Vegetation Departure (VDEP) layer and indicates the general level to which current vegetation is different from the simulated historical vegetation reference conditions
  • Vegetation Departure (VDep) indicates how different current vegetation on a landscape is from estimated historical conditions. VDep is based on changes to species composition, structural stage, and canopy closure.

Bands

Resolution
30 meters

Bands

Name Description
VCC

Vegetation Condition Class

VCC Class Table

Value Color Description
1 #38a800 Very Low, Vegetation Departure 0-16%
2 #4ce600 Low to Moderate, Vegetation Departure 17-33%
3 #ffff00 Moderate to Low, Vegetation Departure 34-50%
4 #ffaa00 Moderate to High, Vegetation Departure 51-66%
5 #ff0000 High, Vegetation Departure 67-83%
6 #a80000 Very High, Vegetation Departure 84-100%
111 #0000ff Water
112 #c8ffff Snow / Ice
120 #8400a8 Non burnable Urban
121 #f516b6 Burnable Urban
131 #4e4e4e Barren
132 #b2b2b2 Sparsely Vegetated
180 #df73ff Non burnable Agriculture
181 #e8beff Burnable Agriculture

Image Properties

Image Properties

Name Type Description
VCC_classes DOUBLE

Class values of the Vegetation Condition Class.

VCC_names STRING

Descriptive names of Vegetation Condition Class.

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

LANDFIRE data are public domain data with no use restrictions, though if modifications or derivatives of the product(s) are created, then please add some descriptive modifier to the data set to avoid confusion.

Citations

Citations:
  • The suggested way to cite LANDFIRE products is specific to each product, so the model for citation is provided, with an example for a particular product. Producer. Year released. Product xxxxx:

    • Individual model name.
    • BpS Models and Descriptions, Online. LANDFIRE. Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
    • U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA
    • The Nature Conservancy (Producers). Available- URL. Access date.

    Example Citation: LANDFIRE Biophysical Settings. 2018. Biophysical setting 14420: South Texas sand sheet grassland. In: LANDFIRE Biophysical Setting Model: Map zone 36, [Online]. In: BpS Models and Descriptions. In: LANDFIRE. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Geological Survey; Arlington, VA: The Nature Conservancy (Producers). Available: https://www.landfire.gov/bps-models.php [2018, June 27]. Additional guidance on citation of LANDFIRE products can be found here

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('LANDFIRE/Fire/VCC/v1_4_0');

var visualization = {
  bands: ['VCC'],
};

Map.setCenter(-121.671, 40.699, 5);

Map.addLayer(dataset, visualization, 'VCC');
Open in Code Editor