LANDFIRE's (LF) 2022 update (LF 2022) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the average height weighted by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product. EVH ranges are continuous for herbaceous lifeform ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with both Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) and EVT products. Disturbance events not visible in the source imagery are accounted for by using LF 2022 Annual Disturbance products. LF uses EVH as an input for LF 2022 Fuel Vegetation Cover (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2023 update (LF 2023) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). In LF 2023 Conterminous United States (CONUS) extent, LF will map the lifeform, cover, and height of existing vegetation in areas that were mapped as disturbed over the last twenty years (see LF Annual Disturbance products) using machine learning methods. These disturbed areas were the focus because they are the areas that have changed the most since LF 2016 Remap. To learn more about this new methodology for LF EVC, EVH, and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) go to https://landfire.gov/data/lf2023.

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2023 update (LF 2023) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). In LF 2023 Conterminous United States (CONUS) extent, LF will map the lifeform, cover, and height of existing vegetation in areas that were mapped as disturbed over the last twenty years (see LF Annual Disturbance products) using machine learning methods. These disturbed areas were the focus because they are the areas that have changed the most since LF 2016 Remap. To learn more about this new methodology for LF EVC, EVH, and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) go to https://landfire.gov/data/lf2023.

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2022 update (LF 2022) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). Urban and developed areas are derived from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and the latest available Microsoft Building Footprint dataset. Agricultural lands originate from the 2022 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) and the 2019 California Statewide Crop Mapping layer. Disturbance events after 2016 are accounted for by incorporating transition rulesets using LF 2022 Fuel Disturbance (FDist). LF uses EVH as an input for LF 2022 Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2022 update (LF 2022) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). Urban and developed areas are derived from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and the latest available Microsoft Building Footprint dataset. Agricultural lands originate from the 2022 Cropland Data Layer (CDL) and the 2019 California Statewide Crop Mapping layer. Disturbance events after 2016 are accounted for by incorporating transition rulesets using LF 2022 Fuel Disturbance (FDist). LF uses EVH as an input for LF 2022 Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the average height weighted by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, Landsat, and ancillary data are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product. EVH ranges are continuous for herbaceous lifeform ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with both Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) and EVT products. Disturbance events not visible in the source imagery are accounted for by using LF Remap Annual Disturbance products. LF uses EVH as an input for LF Remap Fuel Vegetation Cover (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the average height weighted by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, Landsat, and ancillary data are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product. EVH ranges are continuous for herbaceous lifeform ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with both Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) and EVT products. Disturbance events not visible in the source imagery are accounted for by using LF Remap Annual Disturbance products. LF uses EVH as an input for LF Remap Fuel Vegetation Cover (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2023 update (LF 2023) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). In Alaska, developed and agricultural lands were derived from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 Land Cover. Roads were derived from the NLCD 2016 Developed Urban Descriptor for south-central Alaska and a state-wide dataset from HERE Technologies. In the Alaska 90km buffer area developed and agricultural lands were derived from the North American Land Change Monitoring System ((NALCMS) https://www.mrlc.gov/data/north-american-land-change-monitoring-system) 2015 Land Cover and new developed lands were added from the NALCMS 2020 Land Cover for LF 2023. Disturbance events after 2016 are accounted for by incorporating transition rulesets using LF 2023 Fuel Disturbance (FDist). LF uses EVH as an input for LF 2023 Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH).

LANDFIRE's (LF) 2023 update (LF 2023) Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) represents the average height of the dominant vegetation for a 30-m cell. EVH is produced separately for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms using training data depicting the weighted average height by species cover and Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) lifeform. Decision tree models using field reference data, lidar, and Landsat are developed separately for each lifeform, then lifeform specific height class layers are merged along with land cover into a single EVH product based on the dominant lifeform of each pixel. EVH ranges are continuous for the herbaceous lifeform category ranging from 0.1 to 1 meter with decimeter increments, 0.1 to 3 meters for shrub lifeform, and 1 to 99 meters for tree lifeform. If the height values of each lifeform exceed the continuous value range, they are binned into the appropriate maximum height class. EVH is then reconciled through QA/QC measures to ensure lifeform is synchronized with Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC). In Alaska, developed and agricultural lands were derived from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 Land Cover. Roads were derived from the NLCD 2016 Developed Urban Descriptor for south-central Alaska and a state-wide dataset from HERE Technologies. In the Alaska 90km buffer area developed and agricultural lands were derived from the North American Land Change Monitoring System ((NALCMS) https://www.mrlc.gov/data/north-american-land-change-monitoring-system) 2015 Land Cover and new developed lands were added from the NALCMS 2020 Land Cover for LF 2023. Disturbance events after 2016 are accounted for by incorporating transition rulesets using LF 2023 Fuel Disturbance (FDist). LF uses EVH as an input for LF 2023 Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH).

LANDFIRE's 2023 Update (LF 2023) Fuel Vegetation Height (FVH) product represents the LF Existing Vegetation Height (EVH) product, modified to represent pre-disturbance EVH in areas where disturbances have occurred over the past 10 years. In LF 2023, vegetation products are created through an image-based process (within the Conterminous United States (CONUS)) that assesses canopy structure (Forest Canopy Height (CH) and Cover (CC)). EVH is mapped as continuous estimates of canopy height for tree, shrub, and herbaceous lifeforms with a potential range of 0-100m. Continuous EVH values are binned to align with fuel model assignments when creating FVH. FVH is an input for fuel transitions related to disturbance and fuel products in LF 2023 were created with LF 2016 Remap vegetation in non-disturbed areas. To designate disturbed areas where FVH is modified, the aggregated Annual Disturbance products from 2014 to 2023 in the LF Fuel Disturbance (FDist) product are used. All existing disturbances between 2014-2023 are represented in LF 2023, and the products are intended to be used in 2024 (the year of release). When using any product from the LF 2023 fuel product suite, users should consider adjusting fuel layers for disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year (after October 1st, 2023). Disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year are not accounted for within LF 2023 fuel products. Learn more about LF 2023 at https://landfire.gov/data/lf2023.