Presenters:
Philippa Burgess
University of Southern California
The Jasper Fire (2000) in the Black Hills of South Dakota remains the largest wildfire in the state’s history, burning over 83,500 acres and devastating the region’s iconic Ponderosa Pine forests. This StoryMap reflects on 25 years of recovery efforts, integrating geospatial analysis and remote sensing to assess the ecological, social, and economic impacts of this catastrophic event.
Through my work as a Geospatial Analyst Intern with the USGS EROS Center’s Wildland Fire Support team, I utilized tools like Landsat imagery, lidar datasets, and Composite Burn Index (CBI) metrics to monitor vegetation recovery, analyze burn severity, and explore the influence of terrain factors. The analysis revealed slower recovery in high-burn-severity areas and challenging terrains, emphasizing the critical role of manual reforestation and ongoing management.
The project highlights the power of combining geospatial science with field data to guide future wildfire recovery efforts. By leveraging NDVI and dNBR spectral indices, along with structural metrics derived from lidar, this research provides actionable insights for improving forest resilience and sustainability. These findings not only underscore the challenges of long-term wildfire recovery but also offer a scalable model for addressing similar events worldwide.
