Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Derived Topographic Indices Across Sequoia Groves in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park (ver. 2.0, September 2026)

This dataset provides topographic indices derived from 1 m resolution DEMs for sequoia groves in both Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. All mapped sequoia groves in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park and two groves from Yosemite National Park, Merced and Mariposa, are included. For each grove, we calculated aspect, slope, the stream network, height above nearest drainage (HAND), depth to water (DTW), maximum elevation deviation (DEVmax), profile curvature (prof), planform curvature (plan), and heat load index (HLI). These indices were chosen because of their relevance in determining soil moisture across a landscape. Derived topographic parameters were calculated using 1 m resolution DEMs generated in 2016 and 2019 and resampled to 3 m and a combination of ArcGIS Pro (v 3.3.2) Tools, ArcPy Scripts, Whitebox GAT tools, and R scripts. The stream networks, which are used in the calculation of HAND and DTW, were determined using a flow accumulation threshold of 2000 meters squared based on a literature-accepted range and chosen specifically based on knowledge of the areas of interest. The neighborhood size range for DEVmax were calculated at two scales, allowing for the identification of both local and more global minima and maxima. Squares centered at each pixel range from 9 to 303 meters and 9 to 1203 meters wide. The neighborhood size chosen by the algorithm at each pixel maximizes the deviation from the average. For both profile and planform curvature, neighborhood sizes of 100 and 150 m were selected based on knowledge of the heterogeneity of the landscape. Files that specify the neighborhood size are included for reference. All files included are GeoTIFF files.