Using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to survey fuel break conditions in sagebrush steppe near Arco, Idaho (June and July, 2024)

The datasets within this release were surveyed to characterize the fuel and vegetation conditions within and around three fuel break study areas near Arco, ID, from June 7-8 and July 2, 2024. The UAS flights that produced this data are part of a larger effort to test UAS image capture technology to classify rangeland fuel types and fuel metrics. These data will be used to compare conditions among treatment sites, test workflows to classify UAS imagery, evaluate UAS as a method to assess fuel break retreatment schedules, and to potentially generate data to model fuel treatment effectiveness under different scenarios of fire weather. The results of this study should inform UAS efforts to assist vegetation management decisions and wildland fire risk assessments in the sagebrush steppe.