Birgit Peterson, PhD
Dr. Peterson received her PhD in Geography from the University of Maryland. She has been at USGS EROS for that last 10 plus years, supporting various fire science projects, including the LANDFIRE program.
Dr. Peterson received her PhD in Geography from the University of Maryland. She has been at USGS EROS for that last 10 plus years, supporting various fire science projects, including the LANDFIRE program. Her primary interest is in leverage remotely sensed data to assess vegetation structure, especially as it relates to wildland fire.
Science and Products
Improving forest structure mapping and regeneration prediction with multi-scale lidar observations
To make informed decisions, land managers require knowledge about the state of the ecosystems present. Vegetation structure is a key indicator of the state of forested systems; it influences habitat suitability, water quality and runoff, microclimate, and informs wildfire-related characteristics such as fuel loads, burn severity, and post-fire regeneration. Field data used to derive...
Evaluation and testing of standardized forest vegetation metrics derived from lidar data
The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managing the acquisition of lidar data across the Nation for high resolution mapping of the land surface, useful for multiple applications. Lidar data is initially collected as 3-dimensional “point clouds” that map the interaction of the airborne laser with earth surface features, including vegetation, buildings, and ground features. Generally the...
Fuels Data for the 2021 KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Collected in 2024 Fuels Data for the 2021 KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Collected in 2024
Post-fire vegetation structure and fuels data are essential for understanding the recovery process after major disturbances. To meet this need, 40 plots within and around the perimeter of the 2021 KNP Complex Fire were surveyed between July 12 and July 28, 2024. Data was collected on sites previously established by the U.S. Geological Survey Kings Canyon and Sequoia Field Station, as...
Fuels Data for the 2000 Jasper Fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Collected in 2023 and 2024 Fuels Data for the 2000 Jasper Fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Collected in 2023 and 2024
Post-fire vegetation structure and fuel data are needed understand how an area recovers over time. To address this need, data were collected within the perimeter of the 2000 Jasper Fire near Custer, SD, on 73 plots co-located with plots previously established by scientists to assess burn severity. Vegetation structure data were collected at these plots during two periods: July 11–17...
Black Hills Region South Dakota 2017 Legion Lake Fire Burned and Unburned Plot Measurements Black Hills Region South Dakota 2017 Legion Lake Fire Burned and Unburned Plot Measurements
U.S Geological Survey (USGS) scientists conducted field data collection efforts during the time periods of September 5 - 14, 2018, November 8 - 13, 2018, June 18 - 27, 2019, July 30 - August 8, 2019, September 13 - 19, 2019, and June 23 - July 1, 2020. These efforts used a combination of technologies to map twenty burned and twelve unburned forest plots at eleven sites in the Black Hills...
Filter Total Items: 23
The spatially adaptable filter for error reduction (SAFER) process: Remote sensing-based LANDFIRE disturbance mapping updates The spatially adaptable filter for error reduction (SAFER) process: Remote sensing-based LANDFIRE disturbance mapping updates
LANDFIRE (LF) has been producing periodic spatially explicit vegetation change maps (i.e., LF disturbance products) across the entire United States since 1999 at a 30 m spatial resolution. These disturbance products include data products produced by various fire programs, field-mapped vegetation and fuel treatment activity (i.e., events) submissions from various agencies, and...
Authors
Sanath Sathyachandran Kumar, Brian Tolk, Ray Dittmeier, Joshua J. Picotte, Inga La Puma, Birgit Peterson, Timothy Hatten
2019 Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop: Satellite data to support natural resource management: A framework for aligning NASA products with land management agency needs 2019 Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop: Satellite data to support natural resource management: A framework for aligning NASA products with land management agency needs
In 2019, about 103 participants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (Forest Service), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other federal, private, and academic entities attended the Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop. The objective of this workshop was to increase awareness and understanding of the capabilities of NASA data...
Authors
Matthew Reeves, E. Stavros, Nancy Glenn, Andy Hudak, Birgit Peterson, Amanda Armstrong, Everett Hinkley, Elizabeth Hoy, Jeff Atkins
Using simulated GEDI waveforms to evaluate the effects of beam sensitivity and terrain slope on GEDI L2A relative height metrics over the Brazilian Amazon Forest Using simulated GEDI waveforms to evaluate the effects of beam sensitivity and terrain slope on GEDI L2A relative height metrics over the Brazilian Amazon Forest
The vertical structure of forests provides important parameters for estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) and it can be measured by LiDAR sensors. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) full-waveform LiDAR sensor collects data systematically over the Earth’s surface from the International Space Station. Since GEDI became operational, it has collected billions of ~25 m diameter...
Authors
Pedro Oliveira, Xiaoyang Zhang, Birgit Peterson, Jean Ometto
U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26 U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan defines critical, core fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns, and informing management decision making. Developed by USGS fire scientists and executive leadership, and informed by conversations with external stakeholders, the Strategic Plan is...
Authors
Paul Steblein, Rachel Loehman, Mark Miller, Joseph Holomuzki, Suzanna Soileau, Matthew Brooks, Mia Drane-Maury, Hannah Hamilton, Jason Kean, Jon Keeley, Mason, Alexa McKerrow, James Meldrum, Edmund Molder, Sheila Murphy, Birgit Peterson, Geoffrey Plumlee, Douglas Shinneman, Phillip van Mantgem, Alison York
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Alaska Science Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Wildland Fire Science
Potential underestimation of satellite fire radiative power retrievals over gas flares and wildland fires Potential underestimation of satellite fire radiative power retrievals over gas flares and wildland fires
Fire Radiative Power (FRP) is related to fire combustion rates and is used to quantify the atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols. FRP over gas flares and wildfires can be retrieved remotely using satellites that observe in shortwave infrared (SWIR) to middle infrared (MIR) wavelengths. Heritage techniques to retrieve FRP developed for wildland fires using the MIR 4 μm...
Authors
Sanath Kumar, John Hult, Joshua J. Picotte, Birgit Peterson
LANDFIRE remap prototype mapping effort: Developing a new framework for mapping vegetation classification, change, and structure LANDFIRE remap prototype mapping effort: Developing a new framework for mapping vegetation classification, change, and structure
LANDFIRE (LF) National (2001) was the original product suite of the LANDFIRE program, which included Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), Height (EVH), and Type (EVT). Subsequent refinements after feedback from data users resulted in updated products, referred to as LF 2001, that now served as LANDFIRE’s baseline datasets and are the basis for all subsequent LANDFIRE updates. These updates...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Daryn Dockter, Jordan Long, Brian Tolk, Anne Davidson, Birgit Peterson
Prototype downscaling algorithm for MODIS Satellite 1 km daytime active fire detections Prototype downscaling algorithm for MODIS Satellite 1 km daytime active fire detections
This work presents development of an algorithm to reduce the spatial uncertainty of active fire locations within the 1 km MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS Aqua and Terra) daytime detection footprint. The algorithm is developed using the finer 500 m reflective bands by leveraging on the increase in 2.13 μm shortwave infrared reflectance due to the burning components as...
Authors
Sanath Kumar, Joshua J. Picotte, Birgit Peterson
Use of imaging spectroscopy and LIDAR to characterize fuels for fire behavior prediction Use of imaging spectroscopy and LIDAR to characterize fuels for fire behavior prediction
To protect ecosystem services and the increasing wildland urban interface in a world with fire, comprehensive maps of wildland fuels are needed to predict fire behavior and effects. Traditionally, fuels have been categorized into a classification scheme whereby a single metric represents vegetation composition and structure, which can then be parameterized based on variable vegetation...
Authors
E. Stavros, Janice Coen, Birgit Peterson, Harshvardhan Singh, Kama Kennedy, Carlos Ramirez, David Schimel
LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response
The LANDFIRE Program produces national scale vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and landscape disturbance data for the entire U.S. These data products have been used to model the potential impacts of fire on the landscape [1], the wildfire risks associated with land and resource management [2, 3], and those near population centers and accompanying Wildland Urban Interface zones [4], as...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Jordan Long, Birgit Peterson, Kurtis Nelson
Enhanced canopy fuel mapping by integrating lidar data Enhanced canopy fuel mapping by integrating lidar data
BackgroundThe Wildfire Sciences Team at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Center produces vegetation type, vegetation structure, and fuel products for the United States, primarily through the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) program. LANDFIRE products are used across disciplines for a variety of applications. The LANDFIRE...
Authors
Birgit Peterson, Kurtis J. Nelson
1984–2010 trends in fire burn severity and area for the conterminous US 1984–2010 trends in fire burn severity and area for the conterminous US
Burn severity products created by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) project were used to analyse historical trends in burn severity. Using a severity metric calculated by modelling the cumulative distribution of differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and Relativized dNBR (RdNBR) data, we examined burn area and burn severity of 4893 historical fires (1984–2010) distributed...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Birgit Peterson, Gretchen Meier, Stephen Howard
Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska
Quantification of aboveground biomass (AGB) in Alaska’s boreal forest is essential to the accurate evaluation of terrestrial carbon stocks and dynamics in northern high-latitude ecosystems. Our goal was to map AGB at 30 m resolution for the boreal forest in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska using Landsat data and ground measurements. We acquired Landsat images to generate a 3-year (2008...
Authors
Lei Ji, Bruce Wylie, Dana Brown, Birgit Peterson, Heather Alexander, Michelle C. Mack, Jennifer Rover, Mark Waldrop, Jack McFarland, Xuexia Chen, Neal Pastick
Science and Products
Improving forest structure mapping and regeneration prediction with multi-scale lidar observations
To make informed decisions, land managers require knowledge about the state of the ecosystems present. Vegetation structure is a key indicator of the state of forested systems; it influences habitat suitability, water quality and runoff, microclimate, and informs wildfire-related characteristics such as fuel loads, burn severity, and post-fire regeneration. Field data used to derive...
Evaluation and testing of standardized forest vegetation metrics derived from lidar data
The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managing the acquisition of lidar data across the Nation for high resolution mapping of the land surface, useful for multiple applications. Lidar data is initially collected as 3-dimensional “point clouds” that map the interaction of the airborne laser with earth surface features, including vegetation, buildings, and ground features. Generally the...
Fuels Data for the 2021 KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Collected in 2024 Fuels Data for the 2021 KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Collected in 2024
Post-fire vegetation structure and fuels data are essential for understanding the recovery process after major disturbances. To meet this need, 40 plots within and around the perimeter of the 2021 KNP Complex Fire were surveyed between July 12 and July 28, 2024. Data was collected on sites previously established by the U.S. Geological Survey Kings Canyon and Sequoia Field Station, as...
Fuels Data for the 2000 Jasper Fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Collected in 2023 and 2024 Fuels Data for the 2000 Jasper Fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Collected in 2023 and 2024
Post-fire vegetation structure and fuel data are needed understand how an area recovers over time. To address this need, data were collected within the perimeter of the 2000 Jasper Fire near Custer, SD, on 73 plots co-located with plots previously established by scientists to assess burn severity. Vegetation structure data were collected at these plots during two periods: July 11–17...
Black Hills Region South Dakota 2017 Legion Lake Fire Burned and Unburned Plot Measurements Black Hills Region South Dakota 2017 Legion Lake Fire Burned and Unburned Plot Measurements
U.S Geological Survey (USGS) scientists conducted field data collection efforts during the time periods of September 5 - 14, 2018, November 8 - 13, 2018, June 18 - 27, 2019, July 30 - August 8, 2019, September 13 - 19, 2019, and June 23 - July 1, 2020. These efforts used a combination of technologies to map twenty burned and twelve unburned forest plots at eleven sites in the Black Hills...
Filter Total Items: 23
The spatially adaptable filter for error reduction (SAFER) process: Remote sensing-based LANDFIRE disturbance mapping updates The spatially adaptable filter for error reduction (SAFER) process: Remote sensing-based LANDFIRE disturbance mapping updates
LANDFIRE (LF) has been producing periodic spatially explicit vegetation change maps (i.e., LF disturbance products) across the entire United States since 1999 at a 30 m spatial resolution. These disturbance products include data products produced by various fire programs, field-mapped vegetation and fuel treatment activity (i.e., events) submissions from various agencies, and...
Authors
Sanath Sathyachandran Kumar, Brian Tolk, Ray Dittmeier, Joshua J. Picotte, Inga La Puma, Birgit Peterson, Timothy Hatten
2019 Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop: Satellite data to support natural resource management: A framework for aligning NASA products with land management agency needs 2019 Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop: Satellite data to support natural resource management: A framework for aligning NASA products with land management agency needs
In 2019, about 103 participants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (Forest Service), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other federal, private, and academic entities attended the Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop. The objective of this workshop was to increase awareness and understanding of the capabilities of NASA data...
Authors
Matthew Reeves, E. Stavros, Nancy Glenn, Andy Hudak, Birgit Peterson, Amanda Armstrong, Everett Hinkley, Elizabeth Hoy, Jeff Atkins
Using simulated GEDI waveforms to evaluate the effects of beam sensitivity and terrain slope on GEDI L2A relative height metrics over the Brazilian Amazon Forest Using simulated GEDI waveforms to evaluate the effects of beam sensitivity and terrain slope on GEDI L2A relative height metrics over the Brazilian Amazon Forest
The vertical structure of forests provides important parameters for estimating aboveground biomass (AGB) and it can be measured by LiDAR sensors. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) full-waveform LiDAR sensor collects data systematically over the Earth’s surface from the International Space Station. Since GEDI became operational, it has collected billions of ~25 m diameter...
Authors
Pedro Oliveira, Xiaoyang Zhang, Birgit Peterson, Jean Ometto
U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26 U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan defines critical, core fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns, and informing management decision making. Developed by USGS fire scientists and executive leadership, and informed by conversations with external stakeholders, the Strategic Plan is...
Authors
Paul Steblein, Rachel Loehman, Mark Miller, Joseph Holomuzki, Suzanna Soileau, Matthew Brooks, Mia Drane-Maury, Hannah Hamilton, Jason Kean, Jon Keeley, Mason, Alexa McKerrow, James Meldrum, Edmund Molder, Sheila Murphy, Birgit Peterson, Geoffrey Plumlee, Douglas Shinneman, Phillip van Mantgem, Alison York
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Alaska Science Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Wildland Fire Science
Potential underestimation of satellite fire radiative power retrievals over gas flares and wildland fires Potential underestimation of satellite fire radiative power retrievals over gas flares and wildland fires
Fire Radiative Power (FRP) is related to fire combustion rates and is used to quantify the atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols. FRP over gas flares and wildfires can be retrieved remotely using satellites that observe in shortwave infrared (SWIR) to middle infrared (MIR) wavelengths. Heritage techniques to retrieve FRP developed for wildland fires using the MIR 4 μm...
Authors
Sanath Kumar, John Hult, Joshua J. Picotte, Birgit Peterson
LANDFIRE remap prototype mapping effort: Developing a new framework for mapping vegetation classification, change, and structure LANDFIRE remap prototype mapping effort: Developing a new framework for mapping vegetation classification, change, and structure
LANDFIRE (LF) National (2001) was the original product suite of the LANDFIRE program, which included Existing Vegetation Cover (EVC), Height (EVH), and Type (EVT). Subsequent refinements after feedback from data users resulted in updated products, referred to as LF 2001, that now served as LANDFIRE’s baseline datasets and are the basis for all subsequent LANDFIRE updates. These updates...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Daryn Dockter, Jordan Long, Brian Tolk, Anne Davidson, Birgit Peterson
Prototype downscaling algorithm for MODIS Satellite 1 km daytime active fire detections Prototype downscaling algorithm for MODIS Satellite 1 km daytime active fire detections
This work presents development of an algorithm to reduce the spatial uncertainty of active fire locations within the 1 km MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS Aqua and Terra) daytime detection footprint. The algorithm is developed using the finer 500 m reflective bands by leveraging on the increase in 2.13 μm shortwave infrared reflectance due to the burning components as...
Authors
Sanath Kumar, Joshua J. Picotte, Birgit Peterson
Use of imaging spectroscopy and LIDAR to characterize fuels for fire behavior prediction Use of imaging spectroscopy and LIDAR to characterize fuels for fire behavior prediction
To protect ecosystem services and the increasing wildland urban interface in a world with fire, comprehensive maps of wildland fuels are needed to predict fire behavior and effects. Traditionally, fuels have been categorized into a classification scheme whereby a single metric represents vegetation composition and structure, which can then be parameterized based on variable vegetation...
Authors
E. Stavros, Janice Coen, Birgit Peterson, Harshvardhan Singh, Kama Kennedy, Carlos Ramirez, David Schimel
LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response
The LANDFIRE Program produces national scale vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and landscape disturbance data for the entire U.S. These data products have been used to model the potential impacts of fire on the landscape [1], the wildfire risks associated with land and resource management [2, 3], and those near population centers and accompanying Wildland Urban Interface zones [4], as...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Jordan Long, Birgit Peterson, Kurtis Nelson
Enhanced canopy fuel mapping by integrating lidar data Enhanced canopy fuel mapping by integrating lidar data
BackgroundThe Wildfire Sciences Team at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Center produces vegetation type, vegetation structure, and fuel products for the United States, primarily through the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) program. LANDFIRE products are used across disciplines for a variety of applications. The LANDFIRE...
Authors
Birgit Peterson, Kurtis J. Nelson
1984–2010 trends in fire burn severity and area for the conterminous US 1984–2010 trends in fire burn severity and area for the conterminous US
Burn severity products created by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) project were used to analyse historical trends in burn severity. Using a severity metric calculated by modelling the cumulative distribution of differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and Relativized dNBR (RdNBR) data, we examined burn area and burn severity of 4893 historical fires (1984–2010) distributed...
Authors
Joshua Picotte, Birgit Peterson, Gretchen Meier, Stephen Howard
Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska
Quantification of aboveground biomass (AGB) in Alaska’s boreal forest is essential to the accurate evaluation of terrestrial carbon stocks and dynamics in northern high-latitude ecosystems. Our goal was to map AGB at 30 m resolution for the boreal forest in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska using Landsat data and ground measurements. We acquired Landsat images to generate a 3-year (2008...
Authors
Lei Ji, Bruce Wylie, Dana Brown, Birgit Peterson, Heather Alexander, Michelle C. Mack, Jennifer Rover, Mark Waldrop, Jack McFarland, Xuexia Chen, Neal Pastick