NASA/TMm2000-209891, Vol. 111

Technical Report Series on the

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

Forrest G. Hall, Editors

Volume 111

SERM Forest Fire Chronology of

Saskatchewan in Vector Format

Ott Naelapea, Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM),

Prince Albert, SK, Canada

Jaime Nickeson, Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Greenbelt, Maryland

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

September 2000

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20010021969 2018-05-14T18:48:21+00:00Z
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NASA/TMm2000-209891, Vol. 111

Technical Report Series on the

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

Forrest G. Hall, Editors

Volume 111

SERM Forest Fire Chronology of

Saskatchewan in Vector Format

Ott Naelapea, Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM),

Prince Albert, SK, Canada

Jaime Nickeson, Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Greenbelt, Maryland

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

September 2000
NASA Center for AeroSpace Information

7121 Standard Drive

Hanover, MD 21076-1320

Price Code: A17

Available from:

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

Price Code: A10
SERM Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan in Vector Format

Ott Naelapea, Jaime Nickeson

Summary

The BOREAS staff personnel worked with several Canadian agencies to obtain various GIS data for

use in the research efforts. This data set is a series of ARC/INFO export files of the fire history of

Saskatchewan by year from 1945 to 1996, with a few missing years. The data set was compiled and

provided by the SERM Wildlife Branch.

Table of Contents

1) Data Set Overview

2) Investigator(s)

3) Theory of Measurements

4) Equipment

5) Data Acquisition Methods

6) Observations

7) Data Description

8) Data Organization

9) Data Manipulations

10) Errors

11) Notes

12) Application of the Data Set

13) Future Modifications and Plans

14) Software

15) Data Access

16) Output Products and Availability

17) References

18) Glossary of Terms

19) List of Acronyms

20) Document Information

1. Data Set Overview

1.1 Data Set Identification

SERM Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan in Vector Format

1.2 Data Set Introduction

The Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan (FFCS) data set provides temporal snapshots of

large fires throughout Saskatchewan forests. Gross delineation of boundaries alone was intended. This

data set is a series of ARC/INFO export files of the fire history of Saskatchewan. It a spatial data base

of forest fires 1,000 hectares or larger in Saskatchewan from 1945 to 1996. The data were compiled

and provided by the Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM) Wildlife Branch.

1.3 Objective/Purpose

These data are provided as part of the BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Staff

Science Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Collection Program, which included the collection

of pertinent map data, in both hardcopy and digital form.

While developing management parameters for woodland caribou, the SERM Wildlife Branch saw

the need for a spatial data set of large forest fires of Saskatchewan. Such a data set was seen as useful

Page 1
for determiningtheroleof fire in woodlandcariboumigrationandhabitatusagepatterns.It wasalso

clearthatthisdatasetwouldbeavaluabletoolforthemanagementof otherborealforestwildlife

species.Finally, thedatasetwasseenasusefulfor otherapplications,suchasdemonstratingtherole

of wildfire in theborealforest.

TheFFCSdataprovidetemporalsnapshotsof largefiresthroughoutSaskatchewanforests.Gross

delineationof boundariesalonewasintended.

1.4 Summary of Parameters and Variables

This data set includes polygons of fires in Saskatchewan 1,000 hectares or larger for the period

1945-96.

1.5 Discussion

Detailed analyses of the content of the gross burn area (amount of burned timber/treed muskeg,

etc.) should be performed using larger (1:50,000 to 1:12,500) scale maps on a burn-by-burn basis.

With the possible exception of some of the 1995 fires, the FFCS was not compiled to allow for

detailed analyses. Only fires 1,000 hectares or larger are included in the data set (with the exception of

a few fires over 900 hectares.

Most fire boundaries were delineated at a medium-to-small scale (1:250,000), thereby prohibiting

mapping of small fires. As expected, a certain amount of feature generalization occurred in the

mapping process.

1.6 Related Data Sets

SERM Forest Cover Data Layers of the SSA in Vector Format

BOREAS Forest Cover Data Layers over the SSA in Raster Format

SERM Forest Cover Data of Saskatchewan in Vector Format

2. Investigator(s)

2.1 Investigator(s) Name and Title

The FFCS project was initiated and largely carried out by Terry Rock. While with the Wildlife

Branch, Terry spent innumerable hours organizing and directing the fire record filtering and entry

process. Wildlife Branch maintains the responsibility for the data set.

2.2 Title of Investigation

BOREAS Staff Science GIS Activities

2.3 Contact Information

Contact 1:

Ott Naelapea

Forestry/Wildlife GIS Coordinator

Wildlife Branch

Saskatchewan Environment & Resource Management

Box 3003, Prince Albert, SK

Canada S6V 6G1

(306)953-2671.

(306)953-2750 (fax)

naelapea@larix.derm.gov.sk.ca

Page 2
Contact 2:

Jaime Nickeson

Raytheon ITSS

Code 923

NASA GSFC

Greenbelt, MD 20771

(301) 286-3373

Jaime.Nickeson@ gsfc.nasa.gov

3. Theory of Measurements

While developing management parameters for woodland caribou, Wildlife Branch saw the need for a

spatial data set of large forest fires of Saskatchewan. Such a data set was seen as useful for

determining the role of fire in woodland caribou migration and habitat usage patterns. It was also clear

that this data set would be a valuable tool for the management of other boreal forest wildlife species.

Finally, the data set was seen as useful for other applications, such as demonstrating the role of

wildfire in the boreal forest. The FFCS data provide temporal snapshots of large fires throughout

Saskatchewan forests. Gross delineation of boundaries alone was intended.

The year-by-year coverage nomenclature currently used with this data set is not reflective of a

normalized data base. A normalized data set would have the fire year as a field in the master coverage

rather than in the coverage name. The coverage per year format offers two advantages over using

"regions" to combine all coverages into a single coverage. First, many GIS packages or geographic

data viewing utilities lack "region"-like functions. Second, a normalized data base would result in

awkward data handling: if all fire year coverages were placed into a single coverage, the resultant

master coverage would have numerous tiny polygons. Each of these wedges would replicate

information for every fire fragment that they depict. Simple analyses such as area-to-perimeter ratio

calculations for a given fire could therefore not be performed easily. Thus, the data are distributed in

the individual coverage per year format. Users have the option of converting the individual coverages

into GIS "regions," or they can normalize the data base themselves. However, the data are best

distributed in non-normalized form.

4. Equipment

4.1 Sensor/Instrument Description

• Gentian digitizing tables (models Altek C30 and C31) connected to a 286 PC with the

EM4105 Tektronix 4105 terminal emulator package. (A), (C), and (D)

• Gentian digitizing tables (models Altek C30 and C31) connected to Tektronix 4207 terminals.

• PC-ARC/INFO v.3.4D on a NEC 386. (A)

• ARC/INFO v5 on a Prime. (A)

• ARC/INFO v6 and v7 on a Sun SPARC Station 10 Model 30 (B) and those fires occurring

north of the commercial forest. (C)

• ARC/INFO v7 on a Sun 670MP server. Only those fires in the commercial forest. (D)

• Trimble Pro XL Global Positioning System (GPS), Basic Plus GPS & CMT Data logger,

CMT-GPS. (D)

The letter designations refer to groups of years in the data set that have been processed differently. See

Section 9.2.1 for descriptions of the letter designations.

4.1.1 Collection Environment

Not known.

Page 3
4.1.2 Source/Platform

Aerial surveys,groundcrewestimates,and/orGPSboundaries.

4.1.3 Source/Platform Mission Objectives

The objective was to map areal extent of historical fire activity 1,000 hectares or larger in the

province of Saskatchewan.

4.1.4 Key Variables

Fire extent.

4.1.5 Principles of Operation

Not known.

4.1.6 Sensor/Instrument Measurement Geometry

Not known.

4.1.7 Manufacturer of Sensor/Instrument

See Section 4.1.

4.2 Calibration

Not known.

4.2.1 Specifications

Not known.

4.2.1.1 Tolerance

Not known.

4.2.2 Frequency of Calibration

Not known.

4.2.3 Other Calibration Information

Not known.

5. Data Acquisition Methods

Most fire boundaries were delineated at a medium-to-small scale (1:250,000), thereby prohibiting

mapping of small fires. As expected, a certain amount of feature generalization occurred in the

mapping process. The FFCS data set was generated using several methods and a myriad of source

map types. The methods used for digitizing the fire boundaries are categorized by grouping the years

of the fires:

(A) 1945-89, excluding 1972-76

(B) 1972-76

(C) 1990-94

(D) 1995-96

It was initially attempted to digitize only fires that were individual polygons of at least 1,000 hectares.

For example, if a "NO-NAME" fire was based on two noncontiguous areas of 500 hectares each, the

1,000-hectare minimum was not satisfied. This rule applied more to the 1945-89 data set than for those

in the 1990s. Most of this document describes the burn data digitization with these category letters

referred to in the text.

Fire boundaries were provided primarily on 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 source maps (categories (A)

Page 4
and(C)). However,bumperimeterswerealsodepictedat otherscales(1:12,500,1:15,840,and

1:unknown),particularlyfor firesthatoccurredin the 1940s,1950s,and1960s,which wereprovided

onavarietyof sourcescales.Mostcategory(B) fireswereona 1:1,000,000sourcemap.Some

category(D) fireswereon1:12,500forestinventorymapsandweredigitizedfrom thosesourcemaps.

A fewcategory(D) fire boundarieswererecordedusingGPSreceiversandthushavenosourcescale.

Sourcemapscaleswerenotmaintainedin theFFCSdataset;almostall fire boundarieswere

transcribedto NationalTopographicSeries1:250,000(NTS250)basemapsfor digitizing.The

NTS250basemapsvariedfrom Series1toSeries4, dependingontheversionavailable.In most

cases,thetranscribingof bumboundariesto 1:250,000wasdonevisually,but afew mapswere

portedusingadevicesuchasapantograph.Thesepreparationspertainto category(A) and(C)bums

aswell asto thevastmajorityof (D)firesthatwerenotin thecommercialforest.

Masterbumboundarymylarmapswerecoordinatedto NTS250referencetics.Theticswerein

extendedUniversalTransverseMercator(UTM) zone13coordinates.Editingtolerancesusedwerethe

defaultvalues.

Category(A), (B),and(D) firesweredigitizedaccordingto basicmanualtracingprocedures:

whereveraline wasdepictedonthemapwaswheretheline wasdigitized.Mostcategory(C)fire

perimetersweredigitizedusingamethodthatwouldhavefacilitatedachievingperfectvertical

integrationwith NTS250waterbodies.Forthesefires,thedigitizerintentionallystrayedintothewater

bodywheneverthefire boundarywassharedby theland/waterinterface.Thus,thesefireshave

noticeableV-shapedarcsegmentswheretheboundaryentersalake.

Somefiresweredelineateddirectlyintodigitalform usingGPSreceivers.While flying the

perimeterof afire, GPSdataloggerstrackedtheflight path.Notethattheflight pathmayhave

approximatedthebumboundaryit mayhavefollowedbulldozerfireguardsratherthanthetrue

boundary.TheGPSboundariespertainto afew category(D) fires.

Somefiresweredigitizedata 1:12,500scale.Theseareeasilydistinguishablefrom all otherbum

boundariesin thattheyaresurroundedbyARC/INFOgeoreferencingticsthatarebasedon 10-kin

grids.Almostall of thesecategory(D) firesoccurredin thecommercialforestandarecalled"project

fires" by theForestryBranch.

Fordetailsonhow thesourcedatafor 1:12,500category(D) fireswerecollectedanddigitized,

contacttheForestryBranch.Detailsabouthow the 1:1,000,000category(B) firesweredigitizedcan

alsobeobtainedfrom theForestryBranch.

FireboundariesthatcrossedNTS250neatlineswereedgematchedandbroughtinto amasteryear

coverage.(At most,themastercoveragespantheforestedregionof Saskatchewan; attheleast,they

spanonly theareasburned.)Firelabelswereassignedto everypolygon,andtheassociatedattribute

databasefieldswerefilled. Basictopologychecks(dangles,labelerrors,redundantnodes)were

performedfor category(A) and(B) fires.

6. Observations

6.1 Data Notes

Although areas delineated in the data set are considered as "bums," it should not be assumed that

these entire areas were burned. Pockets of nonbum areas within the burns may have occurred.

Nonbum area land types include:

• lakes and rivers

• marshes, muskegs, and other wetlands

• exposed rock (in the Canadian shield)

• "green" nonbumed timber areas

• timber harvest areas (regenerating)

• cleared areas (nonregenerating)

• brushland, meadows, riparian areas

• areas of value (resource improvement areas, resorts)

Page 5
Detailedanalysesof thecontentof thegrossbumarea(amountof burnedtimber/treedmuskeg,etc.)

shouldbemadeusinglarger(1:50,000to 1:12,500)scalemapsonabum-by-burnbasis.With the

possibleexceptionof someof the 1995fires,theFFCSwasnot compiledto allowfor detailed

analyses.

6.2 Field Notes

Not given.

7. Data Description

7.1 Spatial Characteristics

Most fire boundaries were delineated at a medium-to-small scale (1:250,000), thereby prohibiting

mapping of small features. As expected, a certain amount of feature generalization occurred in the

mapping process.

The fire seasons of 1951, 1954, 1962, and 1965 either lacked fires of at least 1,000 hectares or

had no records for fires of that size. In this version of the FFCS data set, there are 48 coverages,

starting with 1945 and ending with 1996. The coverage summary is listed in chronological order.

AREA (Ha)

Number Smallest Largest Mean Total

Coverage of Fires fire fire size burned

SK 1945 1 2440 2440 2440 2440

SK 1946 3 1817 3342 2680 8040

SK 1947 1 1637 1637 1637 1637

SK 1948 8 991 14132 4516 36127

SK 1949 20 1235 53210 12080 241608

SK 1950 6 950 6639 4354 26124

SK 1952 4 839 3077 1544 6176

SK 1953 6 3468 15584 7784 46701

SK 1955 16 816 134215 25054 400862

SK 1956 5 838 5567 2913 14564

SK 1957 4 1891 19327 7178 28712

SK 1958 1 4352 4352 4352 4352

SK 1959 2 981 9143 5062 10124

SK 1960 14 978 36851 11057 154792

SK 1961 26 iiii 192462 19674 511519

SK 1963 9 1146 36165 7229 65059

SK 1964 24 1171 75760 13944 334646

SK 1966 5 1126 4647 2501 12507

SK 1967 22 1079 35981 8656 190427

SK 1968 6 2342 40534 10260 61558

SK 1969 14 974 226976 21769 304762

SK 1970 33 826 289768 32303 1066014

SK 1971 6 2328 44956 14513 87079

SK 1972 24 1046 67885 6601 158419

SK 1973 38 1031 50598 12869 489011

SK 1974 3 1622 9324 5889 17668

SK 1975 i0 1452 38824 12256 122562

Page 6
SK 1976 9 1849 33448 10357 93215

SK 1977 15 928 70503 8255 123818

SK 1978 6 1458 47885 15800 94800

SK 1979 30 1137 58079 16610 498298

SK 1980 82 919 361787 25312 2075561

SK 1981 71 807 486330 26103 1853287

SK 1982 i0 1124 20877 7060 70595

SK 1983 12 1176 12865 3954 47445

SK 1984 21 1024 72055 13113 275372

SK 1985 ii 915 23103 9288 102163

SK 1986 2 2346 3777 3062 6123

SK 1987 20 1549 81162 11587 231736

SK 1988 i0 1476 34915 7189 71887

SK 1989 64 928 47244 7050 451229

SK 1990 25 638 37479 8013 200324

SK 1991 22 1009 31798 9753 214576

SK 1992 8 1780 62321 15732 125855

SK 1993 25 1013 373701 29554 738857

SK 1994 41 1437 166766 24669 1011439

SK 1995 49 789 234677 29430 1442056

SK 1996 3 1617 4655 3563 10690

Notes:

• Area totals are rounded to the nearest hectare from GIS square meter totals, but these figures

must not be construed as having that high a level of numerical significance.

• Area totals do not include fires initially recorded as smaller than 1,000 hectares (fires that the

GIS shows as slightly less than 1,000 hectares were not discarded, particularly for the latter

years).

• Area summaries do not account for errors inherent with source maps or digitizing.

7.1.1 Spatial Coverage

The extent of the burn coverages is based on recorded wildfires that occurred within provincial

jurisdiction forests in Saskatchewan. Consequently, fires that occurred strictly within federal lands

(i.e., within the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range and Prince Albert National Park (PANP)) are not

part of the data set. Fires that crossed provincial federal jurisdictional boundaries (such as the Deer fire

of 1993), however, are included in the data set in their entirety.

The spatial extent of individual fire coverages from year to year is highly variable. This variability

is the function of the distribution, frequency, and size of fires in a given year. The overall latitude and

longitude boundaries (UTM zone 13, North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27)) are:

Minimum Longitude:

Maximum Longitude:

Minimum Latitude:

Maximum Latitude:

ii0.0 W

101.6 W

49.0 N

60.0 N

7.1.2 Spatial Coverage Map

Not available.

7.1.3 Spatial Resolution

Fire boundaries were provided primarily on 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 source maps (categories (A)

and (C); see Section 9.2.1). However, burn perimeters were also depicted at other scales (1:12,500,

1:15,840, and 1 :unknown), particularly for fires that occurred in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most

category (B) fires were provided on a 1:1,000,000 source map.

Page 7
Onlyfires 1,000hectaresorlargerareincludedin thedataset(withtheexceptionof afewfires

over900hectares).

Mostfire boundariesweredelineatedatamedium-to-smallscale(1:250,000),therebyprohibiting

mappingof smallfires.As expected,acertainamountof featuregeneralizationoccurredin the

mappingprocess.

7.1.4 Projection

UTM zone13,NAD27.

7.1.5 Grid Description

Not applicable.

7.2 Temporal Characteristics

The data base of fire history for Saskatchewan maintained by SERM is updated annually. The data

are distributed in the individual coverage per year format. Users have the option of converting the

individual coverages into GIS "regions," or they can normalize the data base themselves. However,

the data are best distributed in non-normalized form.

7.2.1 Temporal Coverage

This data set covers fires that occurred between 1945 and 1996. The fire seasons of 1951, 1954,

1962, and 1965 either lacked fires of at least 1,000 hectares or had no records for fires of that size.

7.2.2 Temporal Coverage Map

Not available.

7.2.3 Temporal Resolution

Except for a few missing years, these data are provided on a yearly basis.

7.3 Data Characteristics

7.3.1 Parameter/Variable

The SK_FIRES data base (burn attributes) This data base contains the name of each fire, the area of

the fire, and simple spatial summaries. The fields in SK_FIRES are:

Field Definition Example

FIRE NO 8, 8, C "1990-002"

FIRE NAME 35, 35, C "EASTSIDE"

NR22 HECTARE 6, 6, I i0,000

GIS HECTARE 6, 6, I 12,964

NTS250 15, 15, C "740/74"'

Redefined fields:

YEAR 4, 4, C "1990"

DIGNUMBER 3, 3, C "002"

GIS SQKM 4, 4, I 129

PRIMARY NTS 3, 3, C "740"

Note that the INFO data base format redefined fields are not necessarily ported across to other data

bases (for example, dBASE cannot handle the redefined fields). Other techniques may have to be used

to achieve redefine-like functionality in such data base software packages.

Page 8
7.3.2 Variable Description/Definition

FIRE_NO (fire identifier assigned during GIS operations)

• A completely arbitrary number assigned when the data base was initially constructed. The first

four characters represent the fire year, and the last three represent the arbitrary fire number.

• There may be gaps in FIRE_NO values (e.g., there may be a "1948-002" and a "1948-004"

but no "1948-003"). These gaps are the result of removing fires from the data base that were

primarily in agricultural land, were smaller than 1,000 hectares, or were revealed upon

subsequent investigation, to have fire maps of questionable quality

• Every fire has a FIRE_NO entry, without exception.

FIRE_NAME (the name assigned to a fire)

• Usually an arbitrary name assigned to a fire. It may be tied to geographical characteristics

("Esker"), mapped names ("Round Lake," "Wapiskau River"), the shape of the fire

("Football"), the start day or time of the fire ("Monday," "Morning"), or to any number of

impulsive fire-naming quirks ("Pizza," "Trolley").

• Naming of fires that have merged involves a modified naming system in the data base.

Usually (but not always), all fire names are provided, with the names separated by slashes.

For example, the single boundary for the merged Ira and Isaac fires has a FIRE_NAME value

of "IRA/ISAAC". Typically (but not always), the larger of the pre-merged fires is listed first.

• Many fires lack names; these fires have either "UNKNOWN" or a blank value in the

FIRE_NAME field.

NR22_HECTARE (estimated area burned)

• Contains the Forest Fire Management Branch (FFMB) estimate of the size of the fire. As with

the GIS_HECTARE field, these numbers do not necessarily indicate the number of hectares

burned.

• The NR22_HECTARE estimate may have been provided by field staff or could have been

calculated by FFMB in the office. Because these values were generated by a number of people

using various measurement techniques, it is very unlikely that they were calculated

consistently throughout the span of the FFCS or perhaps even within a single fire season.

• Not all fires have an NR22_HECTARE estimate. This is particularly applicable for fires

occurring in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. If an NR22_HECTARE value is unknown, the

field contains a value of zero.

GIS_HECTARE (area within a burn perimeter, hectares)

• Fire area totals derived from a UTM extended zone 13 GIS coverage. Note that this number

does not necessarily equate to the number of hectares burned, as green islands within the burn

are usually not accounted for. Furthermore,depict the true perimeter.

• The GIS_HECTARE area totals are usually different than those in the NR22_HECTARE

field. Extended UTM zone area summation errors notwithstanding, the GIS provides area

totals that are derived using a consistent methodology.

• The area totals for multipolygon fires are summarized into a grand total. The GIS_HECTARE

area totals are truncated from the square meter area numbers used by the GIS. They are not

rounded. The error associated with the truncation is trivial: many fire area totals cannot be

considered accurate even to the nearest 10 hectares, so rounding error to the nearest hectare is

considered acceptable.

• Every fire has a GIS_HECTARE value, without exception.

Page 9
NTS250(NationalTopographicSeriesreference)

• Thisfield wasinsertedfor databaseuserswho donothaveaGIS,therebyprovidinga

semispatialtouchto anaspatialdatabase.TheNTS250field alsoallowsfor quickqueriesof

fireswithin anNTS250mapsheetof interestby usinga"containedin" query.

• Theformatof theNTS250field (e.g.,"73G/73F")liststhemapsheetsin whichthefire

occurredin orderof relativeproportionsandNOTin alphabeticalorder.In theexamplegiven,

morelandburnedin 73Gthanin 73F.

• Everyfire hasatleastone(andasmanyasfour) NTS250mapsheetnamesassociatedwith it.

YEAR (theyearthatafire occurred)

• A redefinedfield thatisratherstraightforward;indicatestheyearof theburn.Beinga

redefinedfield of FIRE_NO,everyfire hasaYEAR value.

DIGNUMBER(arbitrarynumericalfire label)

• A redefinedfield thatcontainsthearbitraryfire numberassignedduringtheburndigitization

process.Thisfield canbeusedinsteadof FIRE_NOif datapresentedarefor only 1yearand

theyearprefix in FIRE_NObecomesredundant.As with theFIRE_NOfield, the

DIGNUMBERfield is alwayspopulated.

GIS_SQKM(areawithin aburnperimeter,squarekilometers)

• A redefinedfield thattruncatestheGIS_HECTAREtotalinto squarekilometerformat.Being

aredefinedfield of GIS_HECTARE,everyfire hasanassociatedGIS_SQKMentry,without

exception.

PRIMARY_NTS(predominantNTS250in amulti-NTS250fire)

• A redefinedfield thatindicatestheNTS250mapsheetthatcontainsthehighestproportionof

theburnedarea.Everyfire hasaPRIMARY_NTSentryassociatedwith it.

7.3.3 Unit of Measurement

Definedabove(Section7.3.2)whereapplicable.

7.3.4 Data Source

TheFFCSprojecthashingeduponthefire recordsgatheredduringthevariousincarnationsof the

Department.Theserecordswerehandledby innumerablepeople:field staffin districtoffices,FFMB

personnel,andForestryBranchemployees.Thehardcopyburn mapsourcesare:

1945-1971and1977-1994-- FFMB mapsatvariousscales,typicallybetween1:50,000and

1:250,000.

1972-1976-- ForestryBranch1:millionprovincialfire overview(sourcemapsatlargerscales

wereunavailable).

1995andon-- FFMB, primarily at 1:250,000butwith some1:50,000mapsandforest

inventorymapsat 1:12,500.SomeboundariesdelineatedusingGPSreceiversin aircraft.

Miscellaneous- Category(A) -- TheForestryBranchcanvassedits stafffor firesthatmay

havebeenmissedin anearlierversionof theFFCSdataset.Basedonthatsurvey,The

ForestryBranchprovided1:250,000mapsof thefollowing fires:

1961- Bertwell(yearof fireuncertain)

1961

1968

1970

1980

1991

1992

1993

- (twonameunknowns,1961-003and1961-020)

- Armstrong

- McCusker

- KennedyCreek

- Scorcher

- Trolly

- Thursday

Page10
Miscellaneous- Category(B) -- Variousmapsthatsurfacedfrom othersourceswereaddedto

thedataset.For example,the"Weitzel"and"Lansdowne"fire boundariesfor 1973were

providedby MartinChartier(via MickeyDesjarlaisof theSERM"BuffaloNarrowsFire

Centre").

All of thedatadesignwork anddatasetdocumentationwasperformedby theWildlife Branch.The

vastmajorityof thedigitalcompilationof thefire mapswasperformedbytheWildlife Branch.Listing

of digital compilationauthorsispresentedviaburnyeargroupings:

• 1945-1971,1977-1994,and 1996-- Wildlife Branch(lineworkandattributes)

• 1972-1976-- ForestryBranch(linework)andWildlife Branch(attributes)

• 1995-- ForestryBranch:

• most"project"firesin thecommercialforest,somein thefarnorth

• lineworkandbasicattributes1995-- Wildlife Branch

• firesnotdigitizedbytheForestryBranchabove,includingall lineworkandall attributes

• attributesfor projectfiresnotrecordedby theForestryBranch

7.3.5 Data Range

Not available.

7.4 Sample Data Record

Not applicable.

8. Data Organization

8.1 Data Granularity

The smallest unit of data tracked by BORIS is the entire set of export files for all available years as

well as the associated documentation files provided by SERM.

8.2 Data Format(s)

This data set consists of a total of 70 files. The Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan data are

provided as ARC/INFO export files. Because these export files contain both coverages and data files,

use the "Arc: import auto <interchange file> <output>" command format.

The file names are constructed as in the following example:

sk f1972.e00

sk for Saskatchewan

an underscore

3#### an f, followed by the 4-digit year

.e00 the .e00 extension, an ARC convention for export files

There are also 19 documentation files associated with this data set. This document was compiled

mostly from these 19 documents. The documents have the following file names:

all.txt

authors.txt

backgrnd.txt

copyinfo.txt

coverags.txt

datadict.txt

dataform.txt

dataissu.txt

dataqual.txt

digitizn.txt

disclaim.txt

documnts.txt

futrwork.txt

geogspec.txt

history.txt

metadata.txt

miscnote.txt

readme.lst

scripts.txt

topology.txt

The following is an overview of the data set files and their order on the archive tape:

Page 11
File

i

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

i0

ii

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

3O

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

4O

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

5O

51

Description

Header File

sk f1945.e00

sk f1946 e00

sk f1947 e00

sk f1948 e00

sk f1949 e00

sk f1950 e00

sk f1952 e00

sk f1953 e00

sk f1955 e00

sk f1956 e00

sk f1957 e00

sk f1958 e00

sk f1959 e00

sk f1960 e00

sk f1961 e00

sk f1963 e00

sk f1964 e00

sk f1966 e00

sk f1967 e00

sk f1968 e00

sk f1969 e00

sk f1970 e00

sk f1971 e00

sk f1972 e00

sk f1973 e00

sk f1974 e00

sk f1975 e00

sk f1976 e00

sk f1977 e00

sk f1978 e00

sk f1979 e00

sk f1980 e00

sk f1981 e00

sk f1982 e00

sk f1983 e00

sk f1984 e00

sk f1985 e00

sk f1986 e00

sk f1987 e00

sk f1988 e00

sk f1989 e00

sk f1990 e00

sk f1991 e00

sk f1992 e00

sk f1993 e00

sk f1994 e00

sk f1995 e00

sk f1996 e00

sk fires

sk readme

Logical Record

Size (Bytes)

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

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8O

8O

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Page 12
52

53

54

55

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57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

7O

readme.lst

coverags.txt

dataqual.txt

futrwork.txt

miscnote.txt

authors.txt

datadict txt

digitizn txt

geogspec txt

backgrnd txt

dataform txt

disclaim txt

history.txt

scripts.txt

copyinfo.txt

dataissu.txt

documnts.txt

metadata.txt

topology.txt

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

8O

Each file contains a series of 80-byte logical records. All the files are American Standard Code for

Information Interchange (ASCII). There are 48 export files containing burn polygon coverages for

each year, 2 INFO export files, and 19 SERM documentation files (.txt). The export files must have

the .e00 extension to be imported in ARC/INFO.

9. Data Manipulations

9.1 Formulae

Not applicable.

9.1.1 Derivation Techniques and Algorithms

Not applicable.

9.2 Data Processing Sequence

9.2.1 Processing Steps

The reader is referred to Sections 4.1, 5., and 7.3.4 for information regarding compilation of the

data.

9.2.2 Processing Changes

None.

9.3 Calculations

9.3.1 Special Corrections/Adjustments

See Sections 4.1, 5., and 7.3.4.

9.3.2 Calculated Variables

Not applicable.

9.4 Graphs and Plots

None.

Page 13
10. Errors

10.1 Sources of Error

Because the fire chronology spans a 50-year period, many of the fire boundaries overlap because

of repeat burns of given areas. Some overlaps, however, are a result of inaccurate mapping of fire

boundaries.

10.2 Quality Assessment

10.2.1 Data Validation by Source

The fire boundaries have NOT been ground truthed, primarily because it would be far too

expensive. Alternatively, fire boundaries could be compared against other map sources that would

reflect the occurrence of wildfire. Such sources include forest inventory maps, field records, and other

aerial survey information. Satellite imagery could also be a useful tool for verifying fire boundaries.

Regardless of available burn boundary verification sources, it is clear that perimeter verification

would result in accentuating the already inconsistent quality levels within the data base. (Data

inconsistency sources are listed in the next section.)

The positioning of burn boundaries on the source maps is implicitly assumed to be correct. Yet

their positioning may be significantly inaccurate. Similarly, fire boundaries defined using GPS data

loggers may have been generated by tracking the approximate boundary of the fire; corners may have

literally been cut while tracking.

Given the medium-to-small scale of the source maps and the errors inherent in the original mapped

boundaries, check plots were not used to verify the digital boundaries. A standard level of digitizing

error is simply assumed.

10.2.2 Confidence Level/Accuracy Judgment

The accuracy of the source maps is variable. In addition to a large number of staff delineating fire

boundaries using a variety of mapping methods, data consistency variations are a function of spatial

and temporal factors as well as fire mapping limitations:

• Some smaller burns in or north of the Canadian shield may go undetected, and as such, might

not be mapped. Burns in the commercial forest and around high value areas are usually

mapped more accurately than those further north.

• Conditions at present do not reflect those 50 years ago; water levels in lakes and marshes have

fluctuated in the 50-year span, timber harvesting has not been accounted for, etc. Burns may

have been delineated using base maps that reflect only the conditions at the time the base maps

were generated.

• Aerial reconnaissance of burn perimeters is biased toward fires that consumed understory or

canopy fuels. Because ground burn perimeters may be obstructed by foliage, ground-level

fires are not mapped as accurately as the other fires.

The use of GPSs, lightning strike detectors, and better communication equipment means that more

fires today are detected, monitored, and mapped than in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

Because the FFCS data set spans a 50-year period, the administrative codes used in FFMB's fire

numbering scheme will NOT necessarily represent the same administrative boundaries. (The

administrative codes have been added only to fires from 1990 onward.) The administrative boundaries

have often been shifted, aggregated, or split and they are unlikely ever to be permanent. Thus, they are

not a basis for summarizing data over extended periods of time.

10.2.3 Measurement Error for Parameters

Not available.

10.2.4 Additional Quality Assessments

This data set was generated using a wide range of observation quality levels, input sources,

compilation methods, and data sources. Most boundaries are approximate.

Page 14
10.2.5 Data Verification by Data Center

BORIS personnel have looked at some of the data layers contained in the data set; those reviewed

seemed appropriate.

1 1. Notes

11.1 Limitations of the Data

The author of the FFCS makes no guarantees, stated or implied, as to the correctness, accuracy, or

completeness of the data or associated documentation. Users choosing to use the data or

documentation do so at their own risk, understanding that the Wildlife Branch and the Province of

Saskatchewan will have no liability for any loss, monetary or otherwise, that may be incurred. This

data set is provided AS IS.

11.2 Known Problems with the Data

Many fires are not in the data base because of missing records. Some (but not all) of these have

been listed by Terry Rock in the report associated with this data set (see AUTHORS.TXT). The FFCS

data base is only as complete as the fire records available to be entered. By no means should the FFCS

be viewed as a totally exhaustive data set. If you are aware of any fires that are missing and have a

source map for those fires, please contact the data manager listed in METADATA.TXT.

Should you find any errors in the documentation, the spatial data base, or the attribute data bases,

please notify the data manager (as listed in METADATA.TXT). Every attempt has been made to avoid

topological and typographical errors. Nevertheless, the FFCS data set may be missing some fires or it

may contain inaccurate information. By contacting the data author about such errors, corrections can be

made at the source, and subsequent distributions of the data set will contain the corrected information.

11.3 Usage Guidance

Copying the data is permissible as long as all data and documentation files are provided in their

entirety and in their original form. Because the author does not charge royalties for the data,

nonauthors may not sell the data set in whole or in part.

It is recommended that anyone interested in using this data set contact the author directly for the

latest official versions of the data set and the associated documentation.

Data format modifications (such as adding a new numbering system) are acceptable, as long as the

original format of the data is maintained. By sustaining a permanent data relationship to the original

format, compatibility with the existing data set as well as with revised and updated data can be

ensured.

Data content changes made without the consent of the data author are permissible. However, such

data sets would no longer be sanctioned by SERM. Any changes to the original data set or its

associated documentation must be noted clearly on any written report, graphical output, or numerical

summary derived from the altered data set.

Modification of the data set using any value-added process does not transfer authorship of the

original data set; only the modifications to the data set may be considered as proprietary, but not the

entire modified data set that originated from the source data set.

11.4 Other Relevant Information

Because the fire chronology spans a 50-year period, many of the fire boundaries overlap because

of repeat burns of given areas. Some overlaps, however, are a result of inaccurate mapping of fire

boundaries. In some instances, fires occurring in the same year had significant boundary overlaps.

These fires were usually merged into one fire with multiple fire names stored in the data base. For

example, fire number 1981-030 represents two fires: IRA/ISAAC.

Page 15
12. Application of the Data Set

These data could be used for land cover mapping ("dating" stand age based on time of disturbance);

woodland caribou, elk, and moose habitat analyses; and determining of fire action priorities

13. Future Modifications and Plans

Burn boundaries from subsequent fire seasons will be added to the data set. Additions will be either in

the form of GPS boundaries or via manual trace digitizing. Depending on the update source, additions

will be made after fire-out status or during the fall/winter after a fire season. Data entry will be

performed annually.

An ambitious goal of establishing a new data set of fires 100-1,000 hectares in size has been set.

Implementing this data set will require considerably more resources than did the 1,000-hectare or

larger data set. The 100-1,000-hectare data set will not contain fires from previous years; it will contain

only the fires for the year that the data set was implemented and for all subsequent years. There have

been so many fires in this size range in the past that generating a data set of these fires would be far too

monumental of a task.

Suggestions for improving the FFCS data set and its associated documentation are welcome.

14. Software

14.1 Software Description

• PC-ARC/INFO v.3.4D on a NEC 386 (A)

• ARC/INFO v5 on a Prime. (A)

• ARC/INFO v6 and v7 on a Sun SPARC Station 10 Model 30 (B) and those fires occurring

north of the commercial forest (C)

• ARC/INFO v7 on a Sun 670MP server. Only those fires in the commercial forest (D)

Questions about the software should be directed to:

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.

380 New York Street

Redlands, CA 92373-8100

14.2 Software Access

ARC/INFO is a commercial package; contact ESRI for details.

15. Data Access

The SERM forest fire chronology data in vector format are available from the Earth Observing System

Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active

Archive Center (DAAC).

Page 16
15.1 Contact Information

For BOREAS data and documentation please contact:

ORNL DAAC User Services

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

P.O. Box 2008 MS-6407

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6407

Phone: (423) 241-3952

Fax: (423) 574-4665

E-mail: ornldaac@ornl.gov or ornl@eos.nasa.gov

15.2 Data Center Identification

Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory

(ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for Biogeochemical Dynamics

http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/.

15.3 Procedures for Obtaining Data

Users may obtain data directly through the ORNL DAAC online search and order system

[http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/] and the anonymous FTP site [ftp://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/data/] or by

contacting User Services by electronic mail, telephone, fax, letter, or personal visit using the contact

information in Section 15.1.

15.4 Data Center Status/Plans

The ORNL DAAC is the primary source for BOREAS field measurement, image, GIS, and

hardcopy data products. The BOREAS CD-ROM and data referenced or listed in inventories on the

CD-ROM are available from the ORNL DAAC.

16. Output Products and Availability

16.1 Tape Products

Computer-Compatible Tape (CCT), 8-ram tape.

16.2 Film Products

None.

16.3 Other Products

These data are available on the BOREAS CD-ROM series.

17. References

17.1 Platform/Sensor/Instrument/Data Processing Documentation

Forest fire chronology of Saskatchewan digital data documentation. 1996. Wildlife Branch,

Saskatchewan Environment & Resource Management. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. 17 text files.

Documentation files associated with this data set (many of which were used to create this

documentation file):

AUTHORS.TXT - organizations and staff involved in

generating the FFCS data set. 1 pp.

BACKGRND.TXT - background information (data content and

origin, acronyms) . 3 ppp.

COPYINFO.TXT - data ownership and copying information. 2 pp.

Page 17
COVERAGS.TXT - list of ARC/INFO coverages and summary of

their features. 2 pp.

DATADICT.TXT - data dictionary (data base fields and

linkages) . 5 pp.

DATAFORM.TXT - data file formats. 2 pp.

DATAISSU.TXT - data base and GIS issues (normalization,

regions, vertical integration, derived data).

3 pp.

DATAQUAL.TXT - data quality and usability info. 3 pp.

DIGITIZN.TXT - digitization methods and equipment. 3 pp.

DISCLAMR.TXT - disclaimer. 1 pp.

DOCUMNTS.TXT - the file that you are now reading. 2 pp.

FUTRWORK.TXT - realistic and ambitious plans for future

work. 3 pp.

GEOGSPEC.TXT - geographic parameter listing. 5 pp.

HISTORY.TXT - project history. 2 pp.

METADATA.TXT - description of the FFCS data set (who, what,

when, why, where) in Canadian General

Standards Board metadata format. Somewhat

overlaps the content of the other readme

files but is often too abridged. 6 pp.

MISCNOTE.TXT - miscellaneous notes. 1 pp.

README.IST - documentation guide. 2 pp.

SCRIPTS.TXT - programming code used and/or available for

generating or manipulating the data set. 1 pp.

TOPOLOGY.TXT - description of topological features. 2 pp.

17.2 Journal Articles and Study Reports

A fire history for Saskatchewan. 1996. Wildlife Branch, Saskatchewan Environment & Resource

Management. Prince Albert, SK. 6 pp. and appendices.

Newcomer, J., D. Landis, S. Conrad, S. Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J. Nickeson,

A. Papagno, D. Rinker, R. Strub, T. Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers, eds. 2000. Collected Data of The

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. NASA. CD-ROM.

Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1994. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version

1994-3.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 94).

Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment Plan. Version

1996-2.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 96).

Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: 1994

Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPS DOC 94).

Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1997. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: 1996

Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPS DOC 96).

Sellers, P., F. Hall, H. Margolis, B. Kelly, D. Baldocchi, G. den Hartog, J. Cihlar, M.G. Ryan, B.

Goodison, P. Crill, K.J. Ransom D. Lettenmaier, and D.E. Wickland. 1995. The boreal

ecosystem-atmosphere study (BOREAS): an overview and early results from the 1994 field year.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 76(9): 1549-1577.

Sellers, P.J., F.G. Hall, R.D. Kelly, A. Black, D. Baldocchi, J. Berry, M. Ryan, K.J. Ranson, P.M.

Crill, D.P. Lettenmaier, H. Margolis, J. Cihlar, J. Newcomer, D. Fitzjarrald, P.G. Jarvis, S.T.

Page 18
Gower,D. Halliwell, D. Williams, B. Goodison,D.E.Wickland, andF.E.Guertin.1997.BOREAS

in 1997:ExperimentOverview,ScientificResultsandFutureDirections.Journalof Geophysical

Research102(D24):28,731-28,770.

17.3 Archive/DBMS Usage Documentation

None.

None.

18. Glossary of Terms

AAT

ASCII

BOREAS

BORIS

CCT

CD-ROM

DAAC

EOS

EOSDIS

ESRI

FFCS

FFMB

GIS

GPS

GSFC

NAD27

NAD83

NASA

NSA

NTS

ORNL

PANP

PAT

SERM

SSA

URL

UTM

19. List of Acronyms

- Arc Attribute Table

- American Standard Code for Information Interchange

- BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study

- BOREAS Information System

- Computer-Compatible Tape

- Compact Disk - Read-Only Memory

- Distributed Active Archive Center

- Earth Observing System

- EOS Data and Information System

- Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.

- Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan

- Forest Fire Management Branch

- Geographic Information System

- Global Positioning System

- Goddard Space Flight Center

- North American Datum of 1927

- North American Datum of 1983

- National Aeronautics and Space Administration

- Northern Study Area

- National Topographic Series

- Oak Ridge National Laboratory

- Prince Albert National Park

- Polygon Attribute Table

- Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management

- Southern Study Area

- Uniform Resource Locator

- Universal Transverse Mercator

20. Document Information

20.1 Document Revision Dates

Written: 10-Mar- 1997

Updated: 03-Nov- 1999

20.2 Document Review Date(s)

B ORIS Review: 15-May- 1997

Science Review:

Page 19
20.3 Document

20.4 Citation

When using these data, please note the following usage guidelines and conditions. In addition to

following these guidelines, please include citations of relevant papers in Section 17.2.

The digital FFCS data set and associated documentation are the property of Government of

Saskatchewan.

The digital FFCS data and documentation may be used in the preparation of reports, estimates, and

proposals and in other digital data bases, subject to the following conditions:

• All the data and material displayed, referenced, or distributed in whole, in part, or in

combination with any other data must clearly indicate the author along with the date of the data

origin and the date of the most recent update or revision as supplied by the author.

• Wildlife Branch authorizes users to subject the data to value-added activities and, if these

value-added activities have occurred, they must be clearly stated in any reports, analyses,

references, or depictions produced by the user.

If using data from the BOREAS CD-ROM series, also reference the data as:

Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management, Wildlife Branch. "BOREAS Staff Science

GIS Activities." In Collected Data of The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. Eds. J. Newcomer,

D. Landis, S. Conrad, S. Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J. Nickeson, A. Papagno, D.

Rinker, R. Strub, T. Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers. CD-ROM. NASA, 2000.

Also, cite the BOREAS CD-ROM set as:

Newcomer, J., D. Landis, S. Conrad, S. Curd, K. Huemmrich, D. Knapp, A. Morrell, J.

Nickeson, A. Papagno, D. Rinker, R. Strub, T. Twine, F. Hall, and P. Sellers, eds. Collected Data of

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study. NASA. CD-ROM. NASA, 2000.

20.5 Document Curator

20.6 Document URL

Page 20
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE FormApproved

OMB No. 0704-0188

Public reporting burden for this collection of informationis estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson

Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503.

1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED

September 2000 Technical Memorandum

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Technical Report Series on the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS)

SERM Forest Fire Chronology of Saskatchewan in Vector Format

6. AUTHOR(S)

Ott Naelapea and Jamie Nickeson

Forrest G. Hall, Editor

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS (ES)

Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS (ES)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

5. FUNDING NUMBERS

923

RTOP: 923-462-33-01

8. PEFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

2000-03136-0

10. SPONSORING / MONITORING

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

TM--2000-209891

Vol. 111

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

O. Naelapea: Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM), Prince Albert, SK,

Canada; J. Nickeson: Raytheon ITSS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Unclassifie_Unlimited

Subject Category: 43

Report available from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information,

7121 Standard Drive, Hanover, MD 21076-1320. (301) 621-0390.

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

The BOREAS staff personnel worked with several Canadian agencies to obtain various GIS data for

use in the research efforts. This data set is a series of ARC/INFO export files of the fire history of

Saskatchewan by year from 1945 to 1996, with a few missing years. The data set was compiled and

provided by the SERM Wildlife Branch.

14. SUBJECT TERMS

BOREAS, remote sensing science, SERM.

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

OF REPORT

Unclassified

NSN 7540-01-280-5500

18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

OF THIS PAGE

Unclassified

19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

OF ABSTRACT

Unclassified

15. NUMBER OF PAGES

2O

16. PRICE CODE

20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT

UL

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18

298-102