Mapping fuels in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park's lower and mid-elevation forests exhibit unnaturally high fuel accumulations due to decades of fire suppression, disrupting the natural fire regime. A study employed the Random Forests algorithm to predict fuel models and loads using climatic, topographic, remotely sensed, and burn history data. Climate variables and elevation were most influential, while remotely sensed data significantly improved prediction accuracy by 5%–12%. Fire history had a minimal impact, increasing accuracy only slightly for larger fuel classes. The resulting maps reveal that the highest fuel loads are concentrated in low-elevation forests, highlighting the spatial variability in fire risk across the park.

Peterson, S. H., Franklin, J., Roberts, D. A., & van Wagtendonk, J. W. (2013). Mapping fuels in Yosemite National Park. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 43(1), 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2012-0213