Data Products » LANDFIRE Data Access Tool

The LANDFIRE Data Access Tool is an ArcGIS toolbar developed by the Rocky Mountain Research Station and distributed by the National Interagency Fuels Technology Team. The tool allows users to interact with the LANDFIRE data distribution site (The National Map LANDFIRE) and download LANDFIRE data directly from ArcMap.

Users should be familiar with the operation of The National Map LANDFIRE prior to using this tool. In summary, The National Map LANDFIRE provides a web browser interface through which users can select LANDFIRE data layers for download, drag a box on a map to define an extent rectangle, and download the selected layers as zipped files in either ESRI ArcGRID or GeoTiff format. The downloaded files are given an 8-digit random number that needs to be changed to the LANDFIRE layer name. Also, depending on the size of the extent rectangle, the downloaded raster layers may be divided into multiple pieces that will need to be merged back together by the user after downloading.

The LANDFIRE Data Access Tool allows an ArcGIS user to drag a box in a ArcMap session to define a download area, select the desired LANDFIRE layers, and then download data from The National Map LANDFIRE for the specified extent rectangle. All of the randomly named zip files should be downloaded to a single folder. Any number of LANDFIRE layers, including single-piece or multiple-piece downloads as well as different spatial extent rectangles, can be downloaded. Once the data of interest have been downloaded to a single folder, the LANDFIRE Data Access Tool's Smart Assembler will batch unzip the files, automatically rename the layers to the correct LANDFIRE names, merge multiple-piece layers back into a single output layer if necessary, and re-attach fields to the output raster attribute tables. Output raster layers can be generated in ESRI ArcGRID, Erdas Imagine, or GeoTiff formats, and layers can be optionally reprojected during batch processing.

Additionally, four raster functions are included with the tool:

• Reproject Raster with options to specify resampling methods, output extent, and nodata values.
• Build LCP creates a FARSITE landscape (LCP) file from a set of input rasters.
• LCP to ArcGrids disassembles a FARSITE LCP file back to the original input layers in ArcGrid format.
• Attach CSV to ArcGrid VAT joins the .csv file created with the Smart Assembler to the attribute table in a corresponding GRID.

LFDAT uses a configuration database to store information needed for interacting with the National Map LANDFIRE and for processing downloaded data. The LFDAT configuration database is updated regularly. Click on the About LANDFIRE Data Access Tool icon periodically to check for the latest LFDAT database and version updates.