nelan...@gmail.com
- The fire occurrence dataset that is typically used in RA, and is planned to be used for the R9 wall-to-wall HAZARD map funded by the USFS in the next couple of years, is Karen Short’s cleaned up database which pulls from MANY SOURCES and at this point only covers 1992-2015 since it takes time to process the data. Learn more about it HERE. I also have the data mapped here.
- The Northeast region has spent a lot of time and energy over the past few years improving fire occurrence reporting to the NASF database. My understanding is that the past 3 years have shown significant improvements.
- The more recent fire occurrence reporting, which should show the improvements, is within NASF’s database compiled by Keith Smith, available here: https://fam.nwcg.gov/fam-web/. I can send you the information on how to download if you would like.
To understand the difference between the NASF reports and the cleaned up Karen Short database, I have started comparing the 2015 data as an example year. The raw data, pivot tables for summarizing, and some tables that I have produced to start to summarize are available as a reference to this post (let me know if you have trouble downloading). Please use these data and tables to look through areas and factors you are most familiar with. For brevity, a very generalized summary of the comparison is provided in a table below.
I am now in direct contact with Karen Short, who has been tasked with finalizing the 2016-2017 database in September/October. She is willing to implement updates but we need to get them in by the end of August (still TBD on process for resubmitting). She might even update previous years (2015 and earlier) in the updated database coming out this fall.
I have directly contacted states where Karen has explained significant issues we can improve on (MI, IN, MO). Take a look at the attached comparison of the 2015 fires for your state and identify if there are any significant issues, and contact me, and we can contact Karen.
