Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Forest Structure and Fire Hazard Fact Sheet: 3

Visualizing Forest Structure and Fuels

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-22-3-WWW

September 2004

Tools for Visualization

The software described in this fact sheet provides managers with tools for visualizing forest and fuels information. Computer-based landscape simulations can

help visualize stand and landscape conditions and the effects of different management treatments and fuel changes over time. These visualizations can assist

forest planning by considering a range of management options, as well as facilitate communication with a variety of users including the general public.

The Stand Visualization System (SVS)óCanopy bulk density, canopy base

height, and surface fuel loads are excellent descriptors of wildland fuel beds, but

these concepts may not be familiar to everyone. Developed by the USDA Forest

Service, SVS generates graphic images depicting stand conditions using individual stand components such as trees, shrubs, and downed material. The images produced by SVS provide a readily understood representation of stand conditions and can help communicate forest treatments and management alternatives

to a variety of audiences. For more information on SVS, visit:

http://forsys.cfr.washington.edu/svs.html

Visualization of pre-treatment (top) and posttreatment

(bottom) mixed conifer stand

using the Stand Visualization

System (SVS).

Forest Structure and Fire Hazard

Team Leader

David L. Peterson

USDA Forest Service

PNW Research Station

400 N. 34th Street, Suite 201

Seattle, WA 98103

Fuels planning: Science synthesis and

integration, an interagency research/

management partnership to support

the Ten-Year Fire Plan, led by Russell

T. Graham, RMRS, and Sarah M.

McCaffrey, NCRS.

Synthesizing

Scientific Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

The information for this

fact sheet was provided by

Morris Johnson, Pacific

Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service.
The Fuels Planning fact sheets are based on preliminary findings. Information from fact sheets will be synthesized in an upcoming publication.

Calibrated Log ModelsóSurface fuel loadings play

an important role in fire behavior because they affect

fireline intensity and flame length. Managers often need

to treat surface fuels instead of (or in addition to) treating canopy fuels. Surface fuel loadings can be reduced

through prescribed burning, mechanical compaction, and

removal from the site. Calibrated log models are created using field measurements and photographs of actual woody debris. The intent of the log models is to

provide accurate, visually realistic representations of

downed fuels in various size classes. The models do not

represent highly detailed log form, individual branch

locations, or orientations.

can be used to show changing habitats, fire hazards, and

other forest characteristics. LMS integrates a variety of

applications to facilitate more informed landscape, ecosystem, and watershed management. LMS can project

changes in individual stands and landscapes up to 50,000

acres. It can be used on any forested region for which

there is a growth model and appropriate inventory information, and can be used for management, planning,

policymaking, and education. For more information on

LMS, visit: http://lms.cfr.washington.edu

Landscape Visualization (EnVision)óDeveloped by

the USDA Forest Service, EnVision is a tool for projects

involving individual or multiple forest stands, building

on many of the concepts used to develop preceding tools

such as SVS. EnVision is based on a digital terrain model

that defines the ground surface. Color and texture maps

show ground surface characteristics and can create ìsynthetic aerial photosî or highlight areas of interest, such

as roads, streams, or observation points. The minimum

data requirements are a digital terrain model, a polygon

overlay that delineates individual stands or whole landscapes, and stand inventory data or SVS files to represent each stand on the landscape. For more information

on Envision, visit: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/envision

Calibrated log models: image of surface fuels rendered using EnVision.

The Landscape Management System (LMS)óDeveloped cooperatively by the University of Washington

College of Forest Resources, Yale University School of

Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the USDA

Forest Service, LMS is a Microsoft WindowsÆ tool that

automates the tasks of graphical and tabular summarization, stand visualization, stand projection, and landscape visualization. Visualizations provided by LMS in

concert with SVS, EnVision, and other computer programs Image of a watershed: rendered using the Landscape Management

System.

Other Forest Structure and Fire Hazard

Fact Sheets

Look for other fact sheet topics from the Forest Structure and Fire

Hazard Team with information about fire hazard, visualization,

silviculture, uncertainty, and larger scale treatments.

Fuels Planning: Synthesis and Integration

This fact sheet is one in a series being produced as part of a larger

project supported by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize new

knowledge and information relevant to fire and fuels management.

Fact sheets address topics related to stand structure, environmental

impacts, economics, and human responses to these factors. Information in the fact sheets is targeted for the dry forests of the Inland

West, but is often applicable across broad regions of the country.

For more information, please visit our Web site at:

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/synthesis_index