Southern Africa Fuel Load Model with Semi-Monthly Temporal Resolution

1999-2000 modeled fuel load data for southern Africa, providing spatially explicit (1 km² grid cells) and temporally explicit (semi-monthly) estimates of litter, dead grass, green grass, and small-diameter twigs. The dataset, produced using the Production Efficiency Model (PEM) and calibrated with 1996 field measurements, consists of 24 binary image files per dynamic fuel type over a 3900x4800 pixel grid. It was verified during the SAFARI 2000 field campaign and is hosted by ORNL_CLOUD on multiple platforms.

Use Cases

• Modeling wildfire spread and intensity using spatially explicit litter and dead grass fuel load layers.
• Analyzing seasonal vegetation dynamics and primary production via the 24 semi-monthly green grass time-series files.
• Assessing carbon stock and biomass distribution in southern African grasslands and forests using fuel type estimates.
• Calibrating regional fire risk models with empirically derived, 1 km resolution data on combustible material.

Strengths

• High spatial resolution of 1 km² across a large 3900x4800 cell grid covering southern Africa.
• Temporally explicit data with 24 semi-monthly intervals for three dynamic fuel types during the 1999-2000 growing season.
• Model calibration and verification using independent field measurements from the 1996 Kalahari Transect and SAFARI 2000 campaign.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single growing season (1999-2000).
• Twig fuel load is represented by a single, constant file derived from tree cover, not a time series.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2000-08-31 and 2026-03 12), suggesting metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Modeled output from the Production Efficiency Model (PEM), calibrated with 1996 field measurements and verified with SAFARI 2000 campaign data.

Time Range

1999-09-01 to 2000-08-31

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:16:39.582486

Geography

Southern Africa