LANDFIRE's 2023 Update (LF 2023) Forest Canopy Cover (CC) describes the percent cover of the tree canopy in a stand. CC is a vertical projection of the tree canopy cover onto an imaginary horizontal plane. In fire behavior models, CC supplies information to determine the probability of crown fire initiation, provides input in the spotting model, and aids in calculating wind reductions and fuel moisture conditioning. To create CC, LANDFIRE's Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC) product must be produced first. EVC is a continuous scaled product which assigns cover to all life forms in the LF data, this product is created using an image-based process (within the Conterminous United States (CONUS)) to assess canopy structure for areas disturbed in the past twenty years. CC is then derived from EVC by assigning bins of 10% for fuel production and use in fire behavior software. CC is used in the calculation of Forest Canopy Bulk Density (CBD) and Base Height (CBH).
To designate disturbed areas where CC is modified, the aggregated Annual Disturbance products from 2014 to 2023 in the LF Fuel Disturbance (FDist) product are used. All existing disturbances between 2014-2023 are represented in LF 2023, and the products are intended to be used in 2024 (the year of release).
When using any product from the LF 2023 fuel product suite, users should consider adjusting fuel layers for disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year (after October 1st, 2023). Disturbances that occurred after the end of the 2023 fiscal year are not accounted for within LF 2023 fuel products. Learn more about LF 2023 at https://www.landfire.gov/data/lf2023.