Use of FIA plot data in the LANDFIRE project

LANDFIRE is an interagency project that will generate consistent maps and data describing vegetation, fire, and fuel characteristics across the United States within a 5-year timeframe. Modeling and mapping in LANDFIRE depend extensively on a large database of georeferenced field measurements describing vegetation, site characteristics, and fuel. The LANDFIRE Reference Database (LFRDB) incorporates existing data from numerous sources along with new data targeting specific ecosystems. This article describes the contribution of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data to the LFRDB. Plot selection, quality assurance procedures, and geoprocessing applied to FIA data in LANDFIRE are discussed. We also describe the use of FIA data as inputs to several modeling and mapping processes. Several characteristics of the FIA sample design and field methods are beneficial to modeling vegetation distributions in LANDFIRE. In addition, tree-level attributes afforded by FIA data are essential to developing canopy fuel layers and are generally unavailable from other existing datasets. Ongoing and potential collaboration between FIA and LANDFIRE is identified.