Before beginning a FARSITE project it is important to spend some time to identify the project data needs and the data sources.
FARSITE requires the support of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate, manage, and provide spatial data themes containing fuels, vegetation, and topography. Five raster data themes are required to run FARSITE; these include elevation, slope, aspect, fuels, and canopy cover and must be downloaded as GRASS ASCII or ARC GRID ASCII format and combined to a single Landscape File in FARSITE (see Input > Landscape Utilities > Generate Landscape). All themes must be:
co-registered (e.g. have the same reference point, projection, and units)
identical resolution (e.g. cell size must be the same for all themes)
same extent (the corners of the rectangular spatial region must be the same)
Some GIS data themes are described as "optional". This means only that you do not need them to run a surface fire simulation. It DOES NOT mean that these are not required to calculate some aspects of fire behavior (e.g. crown fire and fuel consumption) that are important to your analysis.
FARSITE simulations also require you to develop files of weather data and wind data, although in a different format.
|
File Name |
File Ext. |
File Type |
Required |
Optional |
|
.LCP |
GIS |
Crown Bulk Density, Crown Base Height, Stand Height, Duff Loading, and Coarse Woody themes | ||
|
.WTR |
Text |
At least one file |
FARSITE can use up to 5 .WTR files in a simulation | |
|
.WND |
Text |
At least one file |
FARSITE can use up to 5 .WND files in a simulation | |
|
.ADJ |
Text |
Although required, this file can consist of all zeros |
Adjustment factors other than zero are optional | |
|
.FMS |
Text |
FARSITE needs moistures at least one day before the beginning of the simulation |
none | |
|
.CNV |
Text |
none |
yes | |
|
.FMD |
Text |
none |
For fuel models other than the 13 standard NFFL models | |
|
.ACL |
Text |
none |
yes | |
|
.AIR |
Text |
none |
needed to implement the air attack functions | |
|
.CWD |
Text |
none |
specifies > 3" fuels for the Coarse Woody GIS theme used by Post Frontal Combustion Model. | |
|
.BPD |
Text |
none |
specifies a daily burn period by date | |
|
.ATM |
Text |
none |
uses gridded weather files if a weather model to provide them is available | |
|
.CRW |
Text |
none |
needed to implement the air attack functions |
|
File Theme |
Required |
Default Units |
Alternate Units |
|
elevation |
yes |
meters |
feet |
|
slope |
yes |
degrees |
percent |
|
aspect |
yes |
categories 1-25 |
degrees |
|
fuel model |
yes |
13 NFFL models |
custom or converted models |
|
canopy cover |
yes |
categories 1-4 |
percent |
|
tree height |
no |
meters*10 |
meters, feet, feet*10 |
|
crown base height |
no |
meters*10 |
meters, feet, feet*10 |
|
crown bulk density |
no |
kg/m3*100, |
kg/m3, lbs/ft3, lbs/ft3*100 |
|
duff loading |
no |
Mg/ha |
tons/acre |
|
coarse woody |
no |
coarse woody models |
none |