NVC is a vegetation classification scheme that follows the FGDC (2008 Federal Geographic Data Committee) recommendations and is composed of a nested hierarchy of eight levels. As part of Remap prototyping, LANDFIRE evaluated the United States National Vegetation Classification (, accessed 11 June 2019 NVC) as a second classification system for EVT. For this paper, we are mainly concerned with the development of EVT, EVC, and EVH products and not focused on how derivatives of those products are created.ĮVT uses the Ecological Systems (ES) classification that was available at the time of LANDFIRE National. EVC classifications were binned by lifeform, including barren (no vegetation), sparse (1.0 m bins for herbs, 0–0.5, 0.5–1.0, 1.0–3.0, and >3.0 m bins for shrubs, and 0–5, 5–10, 10–25, 25–50, and >50 m bins for trees. For LF 2001, there were 706 different vegetation classes in the EVT layer within the conterminous United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Subsequent relationships between EVT, EVH, and EVC were developed to provide information for fuel characterizations. Modeled outputs included Existing Vegetation Type (EVT), Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), and Existing Vegetation Height (EVH). This paper presents a narrative of the innovative methodologies in image processing and mapping used to create the new LANDFIRE vegetation products.Ĭlassification and regression tree (CART) models were developed to determine vegetation types, while regression tree models were used to classify vegetation structure. The prototyping effort included a new 81-class map using the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) within the NW.

An error analysis within the GC suggested an overall accuracy of 52% (N = 800) for EVT, and a goodness of fit of 51% (N = 38) for percent cover (continuous EVC) and 53% (N = 38) for height (continuous EVH). EVC, EVH, and EVT were produced (circa 2015) via modeling for ecologically variable prototyping areas in the Pacific Northwest (NW) and Grand Canyon (GC). Therefore, in 2016 LANDFIRE initiated the Remap prototype to determine how to undertake a national-scale remap of the LANDFIRE primary vegetation datasets.

These updates account for disturbances and vegetation transition changes that may not represent current vegetation conditions. Subsequent refinements after feedback from data users resulted in updated products, referred to as LF 2001, that now served as LANDFIRE’s baseline datasets and are the basis for all subsequent LANDFIRE updates. LANDFIRE (LF) National (2001) was the original product suite of the LANDFIRE program, which included Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), Height (EVH), and Type (EVT).

Evc prototype 1