LiDAR data products for the Rim and King fires in California

In August 2013, the Rim Fire burned over 257,000 acres in Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest. In September and October 2014, the King Fire burned over 96,000 acres on the Eldorado National Forest. Three datasets are available for pre- and postfire conditions: (1) hyperspectral Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), (2) MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER), and (3) high resolution (~1m) LiDAR. Coverage for the prefire conditions varies but postfire data products cover the entire burned area for both fires. 

Use 

In the past 5 years, unusually large fires have become more frequent across the western United States. Because of their historically rare nature and different behavior from other, more typical fires, information regarding drivers and their relationship to forest management practices has been limited. This project compiled prefire LiDAR data and postfire LiDAR data. An organized dataset is useful to ensure that any studies of pre- and postfire conditions and their relationships to fire behavior and severity are comparable.

Partners 

• California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• University of California, Irvine
• University of Washington
• USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station
• Utah State University