Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery

Learning Unit Description:

The Integrated Geospatial Education and Technology Training Project (iGETT) presents a series of Learning Units (LU) designed to incorporate federal land remote sensing data into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) instruction. The Evaluating Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery LU, created by Vicki Drake of Santa Monica College, uses data sets, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate post-fire recovery of vegetation. In this 3-part lesson, students will use real-world data and methods to determine vegetation loss and burn severity due to wildfire by generating pre- and post-fire NBRs and an approximated dNBR for the study area; monitor post-fire vegetation regeneration through landscape-scale remotely sensed imagery by performing a multi-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis; and import the derived datasets into a GIS to produce a digitization of the burn area and, using a DEM for the study area, derive slope and aspect. 

The iGETT Learning Units amount to three-to-four weeks of instruction and are designed for use both as "skills-based case studies and building blocks for new courses." All LUs are intended for students with a basic understanding of GIS. Each LU includes three core documents, an instructor's guide, a student guide, and a curriculum support document, as well as the remote sensing data needed to complete the unit. Completion of the entire exercise should take about fourteen hours of class time, split into multiple sessions. 

Upon completion of the lesson, students will develop map-reading skills; develop critical thinking skills; execute spatial analysis; demonstrate skills in manipulating GIS software and spatial data using image processing software; and prepare and present a report on analysis findings. 

For orientation purposes, viewers should begin with Drake_Thumbnail.pdf, which offers a description of the LU as well as an overview of topics covered, required software, and the intended audience.

Lesson Contents: 

The attached files associated with this LU exist in a variety of formats and a variety of geospatial data file types.

Below is a list of the files contained within the .zip attachment. The size of each file is included in parenthesis.

LU_Drake.zip

• Documents
  • Drake_IG.pdf (202 KB)
  • Drake_SH.pdf (3 MB)
  • Drake_Thumbnail.pdf (109 KB)
  • POSTFIRE_EFFECTS-DRAKEVG_CS_06_2008.pdf (32 KB)
• Data
  • VDRAKEData1
    • EXPORTS
    • GRDFiles
      • 71370262 (12 items, 1.9 MB)
      • NED_61767263 (57 items, 145.1 MB)
      • Paradise1_100K (12 items, 1.9 MB)
      • Paradise2_100K (12 items, 1.9 MB)
      • Paradise3_100K (11 items, 1.7 MB)
      • Paradise4_100K (13 items, 2 MB)
    • JPEGfiles
      • Postfire_datacube.aux (522 KB)
      • Postfire_datacube.jgw (222 bytes)
      • Postfire_datacube.jpg (66 KB)
      • Postfire_datacube.rrd (50.2 MB)
      • SD_Paradise_PreFire.aux (717 KB)
      • SD_Paradise_PreFire.jgw (222 bytes)
      • SD_Paradise_PreFire.jpg (9 MB)
      • SD_Paradise_PreFire.rrd (69.7 MB)
    • LYRFiles
      • info
        • arc.dir (380 bytes)
      • Paradise Perimeter.lyr (13 KB)
      • Pre-Fire Vegetation.lyr (19 KB)
      • Vegetation Mortality.lyr (13 KB)
    • MDBFiles
    • SCRTCH_TEMP
      • hillshade1
      • Hillshade1.aux (6 KB)
      • info (8 items, 9 KB)
      • Mask_stdy1.dbf (114 bytes)
      • Mask_stdy1.prj (541 bytes)
      • Mask_stdy1.sbn (132 bytes)
      • Mask_stdy1.sbx (116 bytes)
      • Mask_stdy1.shp (988 bytes)
      • Mask_stdy1.shp.xml (9 KB)
      • Mask_stdy1.shx (108 bytes)
      • StdyMask.dbf (114 bytes)
      • StdyMask.prj (541 bytes)
      • StdyMask.sbn (132 bytes)
      • StdyMask.sbx (116 bytes)
      • StdyMask.shp (1 KB)
      • StdyMask.shp.xml (9 KB)
      • StdyMask.shx (108 bytes)
    • SHPFiles (26 items, 5.8 MB)
    • TABLES
  • VDRAKEData2a
    • TIFFiles
      • l5_04003720040513b50_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
      • l5_04003720040513b70_tfw_SD.mht (755 bytes)
      • p040r037_7p20000424_z11_nn80.tif (272.MB MB)
      • Thumbs.db (8 KB)
  • VDRAKEData2b
    • l5_04003720040513b10_SD.tif (37.2 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b10_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
    • l5_04003720040513b20_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
    • l5_04003720040513b30_SD.tif (36.2 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b40_SD.tif (33.9 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b40_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
    • l5_04003720040513b60_SD.tif (14.1 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b70_SD.tif (36.9 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b321_tfwSD.mht (756 bytes)
    • l5_04003720040513SanDiego.xml (20 KB)
    • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn10.tif (68.1 MB)
    • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn40.tif (68.1 MB)
  • VDRAKEData3a
    • TIFFiles
      • l5_04003720040513b20_SD.tif (34.8 MB)
      • l5_04003720040513b30_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
      • l5_04003720040513b50_SD.tif (37 MB)
      • l5_04003720040513b60_tfwSD.mht (755 bytes)
      • l5_04003720040513b321_SD.tif (108.3 MB)
      • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn50.tif (68.1 MB)
      • Thumbs.db (8 KB)
  • VDRAKEData3b
    • l5_04003720040513b457_SD.tif (107.9 MB)
    • l5_04003720040513b457_tfwSD.mht (756 bytes)
    • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn20.tif (68.1 MB)
    • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn30.tif (68.1 MB)
    • p040r037_7t20000424_z11_nn70.tif (68.1 MB)
    • p040r037_7t20000424.met (6 KB)