Post-Fire Comparison of VBS and SBS of Western US Wildfires
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. mojitaba sadegh, Boise State University
Presentation Date
7-16-2026
Abstract
Wildfires have impacts that persist long after the burning is extinguished. Post-fire impacts can be assessed by vegetation burn severity (VBS) and soil burn severity (SBS), each capturing a distinct aspect of wildfire impacts: VBS indicates ecological impacts, and SBS indicates hydrologically relevant impacts. VBS can be estimated almost immediately post-fire using satellite imagery, but SBS requires extensive, costly field recalibration of VBS maps. Stakeholders that mitigate post-fire flood and debris flows, and therefore need SBS maps, are faced with the question of how similar are VBS and SBS estimates. In this research, we used a rich dataset of paired VBS-SBS estimates, along with meteorological, ecological, and topographical factors, to understand their relationship. This extensive dataset of 306 large fires across the Western US between 2012 and 2021 offers information on >75.5 million 30x30 m burned pixels. We used Boise State’s High Performance Computing machine, Borah, to analyze histograms of attributes associated with conditions that VBS is similar to SBS and when it is not. Our preliminary results indicate that VBS is generally higher than SBS under high-wind conditions. and our results can help optimize post-fire resource allocations.
Post-Fire Comparison of VBS and SBS of Western US Wildfires
Wildfires have impacts that persist long after the burning is extinguished. Post-fire impacts can be assessed by vegetation burn severity (VBS) and soil burn severity (SBS), each capturing a distinct aspect of wildfire impacts: VBS indicates ecological impacts, and SBS indicates hydrologically relevant impacts. VBS can be estimated almost immediately post-fire using satellite imagery, but SBS requires extensive, costly field recalibration of VBS maps. Stakeholders that mitigate post-fire flood and debris flows, and therefore need SBS maps, are faced with the question of how similar are VBS and SBS estimates. In this research, we used a rich dataset of paired VBS-SBS estimates, along with meteorological, ecological, and topographical factors, to understand their relationship. This extensive dataset of 306 large fires across the Western US between 2012 and 2021 offers information on >75.5 million 30x30 m burned pixels. We used Boise State’s High Performance Computing machine, Borah, to analyze histograms of attributes associated with conditions that VBS is similar to SBS and when it is not. Our preliminary results indicate that VBS is generally higher than SBS under high-wind conditions. and our results can help optimize post-fire resource allocations.