LANDFIRE-Fire Regime Product Descriptions

The Succession Classes (SCLASS) layer characterizes current vegetation conditions with respect to the vegetation species composition, cover, and height ranges of successional states that occur within each biophysical setting. SCLASS can also represent uncharacteristic vegetation components, such as exotic species, that are not found within the compositional or structural variability of successional states defined for a biophysical setting. Succession classes do not directly quantify fuel characteristics of the current vegetation, but rather represent vegetative states with unique succession or disturbance-related dynamics, such as structural development or fire frequency.

To produce SCLASS, the historical reference conditions of these successional states were derived from the vegetation and disturbance dynamics model VDDT (Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool) (LF_1.0.0 CONUS only used the vegetation and disturbance dynamics model LANDSUM). The area contained in succession classes is compared to the simulated historical reference conditions to calculate measurements of vegetation departure, such as fire regime condition class.

Attribute Table

Attribute tables for LANDFIRE grid data are available on the Data Distribution Site. Generally, these attribute tables provide information pertaining to the grid class value along with class descriptions or labels for these values. Attribute tables, such as the Existing Vegetation Type, provide additional attribute fields that can provide crosswalk links to other classification themes. Color mapping fields are also provided within the attribute tables, providing a standardized, consistent LANDFIRE color mapping schema for these data layers. The attribute files are in comma separated value (csv) format that can be easily converted to other formats to meet user needs.

The attribute tables are provided as a convenience as calculations with grid data will automatically drop attributes. For example, if a grid is clipped, the rowid, value, and count are the only attributes retained. Attribute fields can be reattached to the grid using a join attribute function having the "value" attribute as the link.