The Severity Metric Tool for ArcGIS was developed in Python by former graduate student Katie Morrison. It allows the user to easily calculate the Severity Metric described in Lutz et al. (2011). Simply download the tool and add to your toolbox in ArcGIS. You can run it either from Arc Catalog (navigate to the location where you have saved it), or from ArcToolbox, if you drag it into your toolbox.
The tool is meant to be utilized with the MTBS files that can be downloaded from www.mtbs.gov. You will need the dNBR .tiff and the polygon shapefile that delineates the perimeter of the fire. From these two files, the tool will output a new polygon shapefile with an additional column in the attribute table that gives the Severity Metric. You can use your own files, but they need to be in the same format as the MTBS ones to be recognized and handled appropriately.
*Please cite this tool as: Lutz, J., C.H. Key, C.A. Kolden, J.T. Kane, and J.W. Van Wagtendonk. 2011. Fire frequency, area burned, and severity: A quantitative approach to defining a normal fire year. Fire Ecology 7(2): 51-65.
The tool is meant to be utilized with the MTBS files that can be downloaded from www.mtbs.gov. You will need the dNBR .tiff and the polygon shapefile that delineates the perimeter of the fire. From these two files, the tool will output a new polygon shapefile with an additional column in the attribute table that gives the Severity Metric. You can use your own files, but they need to be in the same format as the MTBS ones to be recognized and handled appropriately.
*Please cite this tool as: Lutz, J., C.H. Key, C.A. Kolden, J.T. Kane, and J.W. Van Wagtendonk. 2011. Fire frequency, area burned, and severity: A quantitative approach to defining a normal fire year. Fire Ecology 7(2): 51-65.