1	Fuels, Fire & Vegetation at the Landscape Scale
2	Plumas-Lassen Administrative Study
3	Primary Objective
4	Steps being taken
5	Primary methods
6	Landscape Vegetation & Fuels Plots
7	2005 Field data Plots in 2005 Focus in steep canyons & ridges of TU 2 224 new plots Implemented hurricane antenna with GPS for higher precision
8	Study areas: TUs 2, 3, 4 High Variation: Topography Vegetation type & condition Potential fire behavior Owl habitat quality Owl population density
9	2005: 224 Plots in TU 2
10	Summary of Forest Composition and Structure Inventory attributes of all trees, fuels, etc. in area equivalent to 25ha (62ac) 12,449 trees thicker than 10cm (4 inches) Stocking density: 585/ha (234/ac) Basal area: 48.0m²/ha (207 ft²/ac)
11	Tree composition by stem
12	Distribution by diameter
13	Fuels
14	Methods: Ladder Fuel Hazard Assessments
15	Assessing Ladder Fuels: LaFHA flowchart Goal: constrain & systematize observations Take quantitative data Bridge to Lidar methods Western Journal of Applied Forestry (accepted)
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17	Ladder Fuel Data
18	Remote Sensing: IKONOS Image acquisition 2 years, overlap in TU3 Orthorectification Create NDVI Filter to SpECDA & other interpreted layers Export Share with team
19	Image Processing and Correction
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23	Feature Identification
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25	Fire Modeling Fuel models tied to Vestra vegetation polygons Ready for intial modeling Coordinating fire parameter modeling discussion with local expertise (April 2006; Jason Moghaddas) Suppression levels Ignition coverage Response variables for behavior and effects Improvements: link fuel samples from our plots to Vestra polygons Create finer grain fuels and forest structure coverage (fuel models & fuel loads) using IKONOS imagery interpretation
26	Modeling details Weather scenarios: 70^th percentile (moderate) 97th percentile (extreme) Comparisons Pre- and post-treatment Different treatment options: DFPZs, Group Selections, conceptual SPLATs Comparison of DFPZ approach and SPLATs Equivalent management intensity (area) Iterations: Scaling up management intensity (extent treated) to find thresholds for reducing size and severity of fire
27	Response Variables: Fire Behavior
28	Response Variables: Fire Effects Severity: Mortality of trees by size class and species—(e.g., how do oaks fare?) Direct severity: ratio of the area of canopy fire to total fire Post-fire severity at landscape scale: % of forest with canopy kill (reduction in canopy cover by size class)
29	Modeling Landscape Vegetation, Fuels and Fire
30	Landscape vegetation, fire, and habitat model integration and projection
31	Integrated Modeling by Others Tom Ford in Washington: coupling owls and fire Sessions integrated planning Wildlife habitat relationships Bahro’s Fireshed approach CWHR approach to assessing habitat
32	Research vs. Planning Models
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34	Integrated Analysis Deliver SpECDA coverage to Keane’s Spotted Owl Team by May 20, 2006 Deliver forest “landscape” (spatial description of forest structure and composition by July 31 Work on integrated analysis & paper in autumn
35	Process of Integrated Modeling Between Our Team and Spotted Owl Team
36	Landscape vegetation, fire, and habitat model integration and projection
37	Summer ‘06 Two field workers, including rehiring a former field tech as field crew leader Focus on resampling subsets of ’03-05 data for consistency analysis Random sampling across TU 2-4 (background data separate from stratified random)
38	Thanks!
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40	Steps
41	Steps
42	Steps
43	Steps
44	Methods: Extensive Field Sampling
45	Methods: Extensive Field Sampling
46	Methods: Extensive Field Sampling
47	Methods: Extensive Field Sampling (continued)
48	Ladder Fuel Hazard Assessment (LaFHA) Ladder fuel hazard is a function of… Clumping of low aerial fuels Vertical continuity of fuels Slope (non-linear effect) Vegetation type
49	Methods: Remote Sensing
50	Landsat imagery Assess annual production of fine fuels
51	IKONOS Imagery
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53	Methods: Fire Modeling
54	Accomplishments in 2004: Field 2 field crew personnel with a part-time supervisor 198 new plots inventoried (TUs 2 and 3) 266 plots cumulative in project (68 in 2003) Songbird module: rapid fuel assessments at 625 sites
55	2004: Ladder Fuel Findings 240 field plots 510 songbird observation sites 3000 total observations: 750 plots A: Highest ladder hazard: 17% B: 2^nd: 22% C: 3^rd: 25% D: Lowest (4^th): 36%
56	2004: Remote Sensing Imagery covering TUs 2 & 3 Imagery overlaps imagery collected in 2003 (TUs 3 & 4) LANDSAT imagery will be purchased in 2005 for these areas covering the summer of 2004
57	2004: Analytical work Transfer of data to databases Raw field data being processed and extrapolated across the landscape Base layers essential inputs to all modeling efforts
58	Goals in 2005: Field 2 person field crew & part-time supervisor Sample plots in TUs 2 through 4 Target: Additional 200 forest plots Hundreds more songbird observation sites Visit & learn about Cone & Cottonwood Fires
59	Goals in 2005: Remote Sensing & GIS Remote sensing merged into operational GIS IKONOS imagery acquisition LANDSAT imagery acquired post-field season.
60	Goals in 2005: Analysis & Modeling Finalize the base layers: fuels and vegetation Initial runs of FARSITE and FlamMap Initial integrated modeling runs with owl module
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