Table 2 Vegetation and topography metrics, derived from airborne lidar, and fire history metrics, derived from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) database. Metrics were candidate predictor variables for random forest (RF) models predicting fuel loads. Nonground returns are defined as those > 0 m above ground. Canopy returns are defined as those > 2 m above ground. Understory returns are defined as those > 0 and < 2 m above ground
From: Multitemporal lidar captures heterogeneity in fuel loads and consumption on the Kaibab Plateau
Metric name | Description |
|---|---|
MAX.gt2 | Maximum height of canopy returns |
AVG.gt2 | Mean height of canopy returns |
STD.gt2 | Standard deviation of canopy return heights |
SKE.gt2 | Skewness of canopy return heights |
KUR.gt2 | Kurtosis of canopy return heights |
P05.gt2 | 5th percentile of canopy return heights |
P10.gt2 | 10th percentile of canopy return heights |
P25.gt2 | 25th percentile of canopy return heights |
P50.gt2 | 50th percentile of canopy return heights |
P75.gt2 | 75th percentile of canopy return heights |
P90.gt2 | 90th percentile of canopy return heights |
P95.gt2 | 95th percentile of canopy return heights |
MAX.lt2 | Maximum height of understory returns |
AVG.lt2 | Mean height of understory returns |
STD.lt2 | Standard deviation of understory return heights |
SKE.lt2 | Skewness of understory return heights |
KUR.lt2 | Kurtosis of understory return heights |
P05.lt2 | 5th percentile of understory return heights |
P10.lt2 | 10th percentile of understory return heights |
P25.lt2 | 25th percentile of understory return heights |
P50.lt2 | 50th percentile of understory return heights |
P75.lt2 | 75th percentile of understory return heights |
P90.lt2 | 90th percentile of understory return heights |
P95.lt2 | 95th percentile of understory return heights |
D00 | Percentage of nonground returns 0–0.5 m above ground |
D01 | Percentage of nonground returns 0.5–1 m above ground |
D02 | Percentage of nonground returns 1–2 m above ground |
D03 | Percentage of nonground returns 2–4 m above ground |
D04 | Percentage of nonground returns 4–8 m above ground |
D05 | Percentage of nonground returns 8–16 m above ground |
D06 | Percentage of nonground returns 16–32 m above ground |
D07 | Percentage of nonground returns 32–48 m above ground |
D00.lt2 | Percentage of understory returns 0–0.05 m above ground |
D01.lt2 | Percentage of understory returns 0.05–0.15 m above ground |
D02.lt2 | Percentage of understory returns 0.15–0.5 m above ground |
D03.lt2 | Percentage of understory returns 0.5–1 m above ground |
D04.lt2 | Percentage of understory returns 1–2 m above ground |
CURV.plan | Planform curvature (Zevenbergen and Thorne 1987) |
CURV.profile | Profile curvature (Zevenbergen and Thorne 1987) |
CURV.total | Total curvature (Zevenbergen and Thorne 1987) |
DEM | Elevation |
HLI | Heatload index (Eq. 3 of McCune and Keon 2002) |
SLOPE | Slope (degrees) |
SCOSA | Slope * cosine(aspect) (Stage 1976) |
SSINA | Slope * sin(aspect) (Stage 1976) |
TPI | Topographic position index (Hijmans 2021a) |
TRASP | Transformed aspect (1-cosine(aspect – 30))/2) (Roberts and Cooper 1989) |
TRI | Topographic roughness index (Wilson et al. 2007) |
YSF | Years since fire (derived from the MTBS database, 1984–2019) |
NPF | Number of past fires (derived from the MTBS database, 1984–2019) |