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99-1-3-28
1999
09/10/1999
09/26/2001
Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Lightning and Fire Occurrence in Rocky Mountain Wilderness Areas
Recent fire frequency and ignition patterns along with mapped vegetation can help identify areas that may have high fuel loadings. This information could be incorporated into broad-scale prescriptions for fuels mitigation. Our research will make direct comparisons between spatially explicit lightning location databases, databases for fire occurrence, and 018-based maps of topography and vegetation. Although government agencies and private companies have compiled these data in recent decades, very little research has been conducted on the spatial and temporal patterns that may be revealed by directly analyzing these data. We propose to evaluate lightning-fire-landscape relationships in the 487,000 Ha Gila/Aldo Leopold Wilderness Areas in New Mexico and the 547,000 Ha Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area in Idaho/Montana, Using a Geographic Information System we will answer ecological and geographic questions about the spatial patterning of lightning and fire across landscapes and regions, the characteristics of 'fire-igniting' lightning strikes, and the annual and seasonal variability of lightning occurrence. A special opportunity exists here to analyze a decade of fire occurrence and lightning location data in two large, topographically complex, but disparate regions of the western United States. By comparing these two regional-scale case studies, and analyzing the differences and similarities of results, we will have significant empirical evidence of the constraints and causal relationships that drive fire regimes in Rocky Mountain ecosystems. The methodologies we develop for directly comparing lightning location data, fire occurrence data, and information on vegetation and topography will be applicable across administrative boundaries, biomes, and at regional scales. Mapping natural ignition patterns may reveal remote areas that may require management intervention. Our regional comparisons between the Gila/Aldo Leopold Wilderness Areas and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness would be useful in educating future use of these methods to map fire-landscape interactions in other areas and at broad scales.
Matthew G. Rollins
Forest Service
WO-Research & Development

Other Project Collaborators

Other Project Collaborators

Type

Name

Agency/Organization

Branch or Dept

Co-Principal Investigator

Penny Morgan

University of Idaho

Department of Forest Resources

Co-Principal Investigator

Thomas W. Swetnam

University of Arizona-Tucson

Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research

Federal Cooperator

David J. Parsons

Forest Service

RMRS-Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute

Project Locations

Project Locations

Fire Science Exchange Network

Northern Rockies

Northwest

Southwest

Level

State

Agency

Unit

Final Report

Project Deliverables

Title
 
Twentieth Century Fire Patterns in The Gila/Aldo Leopold Wilderness Complex New Mexico and teh Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area Idaho/MontanaView
Evaluating a Century of Fire Patterns in Two Rocky Mountain Wilderness Areas Using Digital Fire AtlasesView
GIS Databases of Lightning and Fire Occurrence for the Landscapes of the GALWC and SBWAView

Supporting Documents