Data Access Methods

Content on this page: Data for individual fires | National datasets | RAVG Data Explorer | Timing and availability

Note: The interactive viewer highlighted below will replace the above query tool as the primary tool for accessing fire-level RAVG data. Functionality currently provided in the query tool for generating summary data is built into the RAVG Data Explorer.

Data for individual fires

The interactive viewer on the interagency Burn Severity Portal (BSP) provides access to RAVG data for individual fires. The viewer allows the user to search for a specific fire by name or to select fires using spatial and temporal filters. The user can download one or more data bundles in a single request.

Most RAVG data on the BSP represent large wildfires on forested National Forest System (NFS) lands. Data are also available for select fires of interest on other federal and/or state lands, smaller fires, and prescribed fires. The viewer also provides access to post-fire data from other programs (e.g., MTBS). Forest Service staff can use the email address on the contact page for help locating non-published data.

National datasets

National mosaics of classified raster products and combined perimeter shapefiles (FS only) are available as services and downloads. There are three raster datasets for each year: 7-class percent change in live basal area (BA7), 5-class percent change in canopy cover (CC5), and 4-class composite burn index (CBI4). Two versions of the vector data are provided: one has a single feature for each mapped event (i.e., fire or group of fires); the other is further divided by National Forest and designated wilderness area. Each includes summary (zonal) statistics reflecting the number of acres assessed to have high BA loss.

RAVG Data Explorer (RDE)

The RAVG Data Explorer (RDE) is an interactive tool that allows the user to explore and summarize Forest Service RAVG data based on user-drawn polygon(s), uploaded shapefiles, or any of several existing features (including fire perimeters, forest or district boundaries, designated wilderness areas, and watersheds). It is based on the MTBS Data Explorer. Beyond replicating the summary tables included with individual data bundles, the RDE allows flexibility in summarizing data across multiple fires and multiple years.

Known issues. The current RDE has some known issues that will be addressed in a future release:

  • Sticky graphs. When the user creates a subsequent chart without refreshing the page, previously generated graphs may appear along with the most recent one. Graph context should allow you to identify the desired chart.
  • Data synchronization. Because raster and vector data layers are produced and published at different times, there may be burn perimeters present without raster data and vice versa. This is most likely for recent fires but may also occur when data for older fires are added.

Note on timing and availability

Final products for fires processed as initial assessments are typically produced within a few weeks after fire containment and should be available for download shortly thereafter. Data for fires processed as extended assessments are added after the following growing season. See the Mapping Status page for lists of yet-to-be-mapped fires on NFS lands.

Annual national mosaics (raster datasets) will be updated frequently (up to daily); however, there may be a delay of up to a week before the changes appear in various services. The combined perimeter datasets are updated weekly during fire season and infrequently during the rest of the year. In some cases, data from an initial assessment will be incorporated into the national/combined datasets initially, then later replaced with data from an extended assessment.

For questions or issues with any of these data, please use the email address on the contact page.