FIRE-MAPS: SAR derived percent moisture content (PMC) for wildland fuel moisture estimation - Sedgwick

This dataset provides per-pixel dead fuel moisture (DFM) derived from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter. The SAR data was acquired by NASA/JPL’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument between 2010-04-26 and 2025-08-14 (13 data acquisitions) over the Sedgwick Reserve, California. Radiometric terrain correction (RTC) was applied to the SAR backscatter data to flatten the image and remove unreliable areas under terrain shadow. UAVSAR time-series data has shown a good correlation with the 7-day average of 1-hr DFM at the Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) stations within the Sedgwick Reserve area. The dependency of SAR backscatter to fuel load/structure was detrended using the tree canopy cover (TCC) derived from airborne lidar observations. A linear regression is applied to detrended SAR backscatter and 7-day average 1-hr DFM and the model is used subsequently to generate DFM estimates over the Sedgwick Reserve.

The 1-hr DFM data are part of the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) model outputs and are available for various weather station networks on Fire Environment Mapping System (FEMS): https://fems.fs2c.usda.gov. Airborne lidar data was acquired as part of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) in November 2020 (Brande, K., (2021); https://doi.org/10.5069/G9C53J18). UAVSAR data are courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech (www.uavsar.jpl.nasa.gov), and can be accessed through the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF).