TITLE:
Geographic Analysis of Burn Severity for the 2013 California Rim Fire
AUTHORS:
Christopher Potter
KEYWORDS:
Wildfire, California, Burn Severity, Landsat, Remote Sensing
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.5 No.11,
August
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Analysis
of Landsat imagery was applied to classify burn severity within the 2013 Rim
Fire area using the relative difference normalized burn ratio (RdNBR). Results
showed 53,220 ha in the High Burn Severity (HBS) class and another 34,214 ha in
the Moderate Burn Severity (MBS) class. Within Yosemite National Park, 12,084
ha were detected by RdNBR analysis in the HBS class and another 11,089 ha in
the MBS class. The most typical ecosystem habitat detected within the HBS class
was Ponderosa pine—Mixed Conifer forest, between the elevations of 1000 and
2000 meters or on slopes between 5 and 30 percent. Most of the HBS areas were
located in areas where high levels of pre-fire fuels were quantified by 2013
Landsat vegetation index (NDVI) values between 500 and 800. The Low Burn
Severity (LBS) class covered a higher fraction of areas where the duration
since last fire (YSF) was less than 25 years, compared to the HBS class, which
covered a higher fraction of areas where the YSF was greater than 60 years.