FireTools Cloud Results: Fire History and Vegetation Status for NPWS Greater Sydney Branch

FireTools Cloud Results provide GIS layers for fire management planning within the NPWS Greater Sydney Branch. The data package includes layers for heritage threshold status, number of times burnt, time since last fire, and vegetation codes, updated up to 4 times per year. It was developed by the NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub and is distributed by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Use Cases

• Monitor vegetation fire regime status based on heritage threshold classifications.
• Identify candidate burn blocks for hazard reduction programs based on Time Since Last Fire SFAZ classifications.
• Analyze fire frequency patterns using the 'Number of times burnt' raster and vector layers.
• Visually assess vegetation groups across the study area using the Vegcode display layer.

Strengths

• Data is updated up to 4 times per year, suggesting regular maintenance.
• Results are explicitly validated for reserves within the NPWS Greater Sydney Branch.
• Provides both raster and vector formats for multiple key analysis layers.

Limitations

• Fire history data outside the specified reserves is described as incomplete.
• The Vegcode layer is described as a simple visual display and not a fully attributed vegetation layer.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub (NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University, University of NSW, University of Tasmania, University of Melbourne, NSW Rural Fire Service).

Collection Method

Processed via the FireTools Cloud web-based GIS environment, which replicates the FireTools II ArcGIS plugin, using user-uploaded datapacks.

Freshness

Updated up to 4 times per year; last metadata update was 2026-05-13.

Geography

Reserves within the NPWS Greater Sydney Branch, New South Wales, Australia.