The LANDFIRE (LF) Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) product depicts fuel types as an identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, arrangement, and continuity. CFFDRS exhibits characteristic fire behavior under the specified burn conditions. In LF 2016 Remap (LF Remap) the attribute table for the CFFDRS product is a Look Up Table (LUT) software called Prometheus. Prometheus was designed to allow a user on the ground, at a fire, to have a preference of fuel type depending on the situation and the fire environment. In Prometheus, the generic planning grid developed pre-season is populated with choices so that the user in the field can choose which is most appropriate at that given moment.

The LANDFIRE (LF) Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) product depicts fuel types as an identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, arrangement, and continuity. CFFDRS exhibits characteristic fire behavior under the specified burn conditions. In LF 2022 Canadian fuel models are derived from the Fuel Model Guide to Alaska Vegetation (Alaska Fuel Model Guide Task Group, 2018) and subsequent updates. The LF CFFDRS product contains the fuel models used for the Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) system fuel type inputs. Default values assigned to the Canadian Fuel Models required to run the Prometheus fire behavior software (Prometheus, 2021) are added as attributes to the LF CFFDRS product. To designate disturbed areas where CFFDRS is modified, the aggregated Annual Disturbance products from 2013 to 2022 in the Fuel Disturbance layer are used. All existing disturbances between 2013-2022 are represented in LF 2022 and the products are intended to be used in 2023, the year of release. The "capable" year terminology used in LF 2020 and LF 2016 Remap is no longer specified given the reduction in latency from when a disturbance occurs to the release date of fuel layers accounting for that disturbance. However, users should still consider adjusting fuel layers for disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2022 fiscal year (after October 1st, 2022) when using the LF 2022 fuel layers, as those changes would not be accounted for. Learn more about LF 2022 at https://landfire.gov/lf_230.php

The LANDFIRE (LF) Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) product depicts fuel types as an identifiable association of fuel elements of distinctive species, form, size, arrangement, and continuity. CFFDRS exhibits characteristic fire behavior under the specified burn conditions. In LF 2022 Canadian fuel models are derived from the Fuel Model Guide to Alaska Vegetation (Alaska Fuel Model Guide Task Group, 2018) and subsequent updates. The LF CFFDRS product contains the fuel models used for the Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) system fuel type inputs. Default values assigned to the Canadian Fuel Models required to run the Prometheus fire behavior software (Prometheus, 2021) are added as attributes to the LF CFFDRS product. To designate disturbed areas where CFFDRS is modified, the aggregated Annual Disturbance products from 2013 to 2022 in the Fuel Disturbance layer are used. All existing disturbances between 2013-2022 are represented in LF 2022 and the products are intended to be used in 2023, the year of release. The "capable" year terminology used in LF 2020 and LF 2016 Remap is no longer specified given the reduction in latency from when a disturbance occurs to the release date of fuel layers accounting for that disturbance. However, users should still consider adjusting fuel layers for disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2022 fiscal year (after October 1st, 2022) when using the LF 2022 fuel layers, as those changes would not be accounted for. Learn more about LF 2022 at https://landfire.gov/lf_230.php

Customized products were created for fire management partners in Alaska by leveraging projected Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System metrics produced by Young et al. (2025). This input dataset contains daily projections from 1980 through 2099 for key fire danger metrics including Buildup Index, Drought Code, Duff Moisture Code, Fine Fuel Moisture Code, Fire Weather Index, and Initial Spread Index. Using Python and R, we processed these data to produce summary tables, time series plots, and maps tailored for fire management decision support. Most outputs were spatially summarized to 16 Fire Danger Rating Areas, corresponding to the boreal forest extent of the input dataset. These climate-informed projections provide insights into fire danger by capturing changes in fuel moisture, drought, and shifting precipitation and temperature patterns. The resulting data products aim to provide actionable, locally relevant fire danger information to support fire planning and management under future conditions in Alaska.

LANDFIRE’s (LF) Remap Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) describes the mass of available canopy fuel per unit canopy volume that would burn in a crown fire. A spatially explicit map of CBD supplies information used in fire behavior models to determine the spread characteristics of crown fires across the landscape. The CBD mapping process derives field referenced estimates of canopy characteristics through LF Reference Database (LFRDB) plot analysis. Utilizing the LFRDB plots, field referenced CBD values are computed for each plot with the canopy fuel estimation software FuelCalc. In FuelCalc, for tree species that have no crown biomass, an equation for a species with a similar genus is used as a substitute. Species widely considered to be resistant to fire are excluded, for example, Acer and Populus spp. are excluded from the canopy fuel profile because these species are considered relatively inflammable and therefore unavailable. CBD has a series of post-processing techniques and logic checks ensuring it is relevant in the context of other fuel products and fire behavior predictions. All non-forest values and non-burnable types such as urban, barren, snow and ice, and agriculture are coded as 0. Some stands dominated by broadleaf species which typically do not permit initiation of crown fire (e.g. Populus spp.) are coded with a CBD of 0.01 kg m-3. In some instances, LF Remap assumes the potential burnable biomass in the tree canopy has been accounted for in the surface fuel model. For example, young or short conifer stands where the trees are represented by a shrub type fuel model will not have canopy characteristics. LF Remap Annual Disturbance products are incorporated into CBD to provide informed changes by disturbance type, severity, and time since disturbance (TSD). Annual Disturbance products provide a pre-disturbance scenario represented by LF Remap existing vegetation products. Reporting of the pre-disturbance scenario helps to calculate CBD, with information about vegetation type, cover, and height impacted by a disturbance. With the use of Annual Disturbance products, CBD also has capable fuels functionality. Capable fuels calculate TSD assignments for disturbed areas using an "effective year." For example, year 2020 fuels may be calculated for the year 2020. This new process considers all the existing disturbances included in LF Remap and adjusts the TSD for these to the effective year (2020 in this example), making the products "2020 capable fuels." More information about capable fuels can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/lf_remap.php.

LANDFIRE’s (LF) Remap Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) describes the mass of available canopy fuel per unit canopy volume that would burn in a crown fire. A spatially explicit map of CBD supplies information used in fire behavior models to determine the spread characteristics of crown fires across the landscape. The CBD mapping process derives field referenced estimates of canopy characteristics through LF Reference Database (LFRDB) plot analysis. Utilizing the LFRDB plots, field referenced CBD values are computed for each plot with the canopy fuel estimation software FuelCalc. In FuelCalc, for tree species that have no crown biomass, an equation for a species with a similar genus is used as a substitute. Species widely considered to be resistant to fire are excluded, for example, Acer and Populus spp. are excluded from the canopy fuel profile because these species are considered relatively inflammable and therefore unavailable. CBD has a series of post-processing techniques and logic checks ensuring it is relevant in the context of other fuel products and fire behavior predictions. All non-forest values and non-burnable types such as urban, barren, snow and ice, and agriculture are coded as 0. Some stands dominated by broadleaf species which typically do not permit initiation of crown fire (e.g. Populus spp.) are coded with a CBD of 0.01 kg m-3. In some instances, LF Remap assumes the potential burnable biomass in the tree canopy has been accounted for in the surface fuel model. For example, young or short conifer stands where the trees are represented by a shrub type fuel model will not have canopy characteristics. LF Remap Annual Disturbance products are incorporated into CBD to provide informed changes by disturbance type, severity, and time since disturbance (TSD). Annual Disturbance products provide a pre-disturbance scenario represented by LF Remap existing vegetation products. Reporting of the pre-disturbance scenario helps to calculate CBD, with information about vegetation type, cover, and height impacted by a disturbance. With the use of Annual Disturbance products, CBD also has capable fuels functionality. Capable fuels calculate TSD assignments for disturbed areas using an "effective year." For example, year 2020 fuels may be calculated for the year 2020. This new process considers all the existing disturbances included in LF Remap and adjusts the TSD for these to the effective year (2020 in this example), making the products "2020 capable fuels." More information about capable fuels can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/lf_remap.php.

The LANDFIRE 2016 Remap (LF Remap) Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) calculates fuelbed characteristics and their potential fire behavior and effects. LF defines fuelbed as: the inherent physical characteristics of fuel that contribute to fire behavior and effects (Riccardi et al. 2007). FCCS represents the composition of fuels, and features six horizontal fuel layers called stratums (canopy, shrubs, herbs, downed wood, litter and duff). FCCS can be used for predicting surface fire behavior, crown fire potential, and fuel availability. FCCS fuelbeds are included preloaded in the US Forest Service (USFS) Fuel and Fire Tools (FFT) application. LF collaborated with the Fire and Environmental Research Applications (FERA) team of the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station for creation of the FCCS product. Rule-based methods for crosswalks and mapping FCCS fuelbeds are constructed from the LF Remap Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) product. The EVT-to-fuelbed crosswalk rules often allow for several possibilities for fuelbeds; expert opinion is used to assign the most representative fuelbed and to determine where additional fuelbed development is necessary. FCCS fuelbed mapping should be considered a starting point and customized to represent sampled fuels within a project area. FCCS is a capable fuels product, capable fuels calculate TSD assignments for disturbed areas using an "effective year." For example, year 2020 fuels may be calculated for the year 2020. This new process considers all the existing disturbances included in LF Remap and adjusts the TSD for these to the effective year (2020 in this example), making the products "2020 capable fuels." More information about capable fuels can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/lf_remap.php. See the FCCS product page on the LF website for additional details https://www.landfire.gov/fccs.php.

The LANDFIRE 2016 Remap (LF Remap) Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS) calculates fuelbed characteristics and their potential fire behavior and effects. LF defines fuelbed as: the inherent physical characteristics of fuel that contribute to fire behavior and effects (Riccardi et al. 2007). FCCS represents the composition of fuels, and features six horizontal fuel layers called stratums (canopy, shrubs, herbs, downed wood, litter and duff). FCCS can be used for predicting surface fire behavior, crown fire potential, and fuel availability. FCCS fuelbeds are included preloaded in the US Forest Service (USFS) Fuel and Fire Tools (FFT) application. LF collaborated with the Fire and Environmental Research Applications (FERA) team of the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station for creation of the FCCS product. Rule-based methods for crosswalks and mapping FCCS fuelbeds are constructed from the LF Remap Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) product. The EVT-to-fuelbed crosswalk rules often allow for several possibilities for fuelbeds; expert opinion is used to assign the most representative fuelbed and to determine where additional fuelbed development is necessary. FCCS fuelbed mapping should be considered a starting point and customized to represent sampled fuels within a project area. FCCS is a capable fuels product, capable fuels calculate TSD assignments for disturbed areas using an "effective year." For example, year 2020 fuels may be calculated for the year 2020. This new process considers all the existing disturbances included in LF Remap and adjusts the TSD for these to the effective year (2020 in this example), making the products "2020 capable fuels." More information about capable fuels can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/lf_remap.php. See the FCCS product page on the LF website for additional details https://www.landfire.gov/fccs.php.

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2016 Remap Forest Canopy Cover (CC) describes the percent cover of the tree canopy in a stand, CC is a vertical projection of the tree canopy cover onto an imaginary horizontal plane. In disturbed locations CC is calculated from linear regression equations derived from Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) plot data output, but at non-disturbed locations it is assigned the midpoint of Fuel Vegetation Cover (FVC) forested classes. In some instances, LF Remap assumes the potential burnable biomass in the tree canopy has been accounted for in the surface fuel model. For example, young or short conifer stands where the trees are represented by a shrub type fuel model will not have canopy characteristics. LF Remap Annual Disturbance products are incorporated into CC to provide informed changes by disturbance type, severity, and time since disturbance (TSD). Annual Disturbance products provide a pre-disturbance scenario represented by LF Remap existing vegetation products. Reporting of the pre-disturbance scenario helps to calculate CC, by providing information about vegetation impacted by a disturbance. Then, vegetation adjustments are modeled in disturbance areas based on disturbance type and severity. CC is then used in the calculation of Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) and Canopy Base Height (CBH). CC supplies information to fire behavior models in order to; determine the probability of crown fire initiation, provide input in the spotting model, calculate wind reductions, and to calculate fuel moisture conditioning. CC also has capable fuels functionality. Capable fuels calculate TSD assignments for disturbed areas using an "effective year." For example, year 2020 fuels may be calculated for the year 2020. This new process considers all the existing disturbances included in LF Remap and adjusts the TSD for these to the effective year (2020 in this example), making the products "2020 capable fuels." More information about capable fuels can be found at https://www.landfire.gov/lf_remap.php.