ALFRESCO Simulation Image

ALFRESCO User's Guide

  1. Introduction to ALFRESCO
  2. Installing ALFRESCO
    1. Minimum System Requirements
    2. Downloads
    3. Installing from RPM
    4. Compiling/Installing from Source
  3. Getting Started
    1. .FIF Setup
    2. Running ALFRESCO
  4. Appendix A: .FIF Configuration
  5. Change Log
  6. ALFRESCO Model References

Introduction to ALFRESCO

ALFRESCO was originally developed to simulate the response of subarctic vegetation to a changing climate and disturbance regime (Rupp et al. 2000a, 2000b). Previous research has highlighted both direct and indirect (through changes in fire regime) effects of climate on the expansion rate, species composition, and extent of treeline in Alaska (Rupp et al. 2000b, 2001, Lloyd et al. 2003). Additional research, focused on boreal forest vegetation dynamics, has emphasized that fire frequency changes – both direct (climate-driven or anthropogenic) and indirect (as a result of vegetation succession and species composition) – strongly influence landscape-level vegetation patterns and associated feedbacks to future fire regime (Rupp et al. 2002, Chapin et al. 2003, Turner et al. 2003). A detailed description of ALFRESCO can be obtained from the literature (Rupp et al. 2000a, 200b, 2001, 2002). The boreal forest version of ALFRESCO was developed to explore the interactions and feedbacks between fire, climate, and vegetation in interior Alaska (Rupp et al. 2002, 2007, Duffy et al. 2005, 2007) and associated impacts to natural resources (Rupp et al. 2006, Butler et al. 2007).

ALFRESCO is a state-and-transition model of successional dynamics that explicitly represents the spatial processes of fire and vegetation recruitment across the landscape (Rupp et al. 2000a). ALFRESCO does not model fire behavior, but rather models the empirical relationship between growing-season climate (e.g., average temperature and total precipitation) and total annual area burned (i.e., the footprint of fire on the landscape). ALFRESCO also models the changes in vegetation flammability that occurs during succession through a flammability coefficient that changes with vegetation type and stand age (Chapin et al. 2003).

The fire regime is simulated stochastically and is driven by climate, vegetation type, and time since last fire (Rupp et al. 2000a, 2007). ALFRESCO employs a cellular automaton approach, where an ignited pixel may spread to any of the eight surrounding pixels. ‘Ignition’ of a pixel is determined using a random number generator and as a function of the flammability value of that pixel. Fire ‘spread’ depends on the flammability of the receptor pixel and any effects of natural firebreaks including non-vegetated mountain slopes and large water bodies, which do not burn.

Version 1.0.1 can operate at any time step and pixel resolution, however the current model calibration and parameterization was conducted at an annual time step and 1 km2 pixel resolution. A 30 m2 calibration and parameterization is currently underway. Other model developments include refined tundra transition stages, fire suppression effects on fire size, simulated fire severity patterns and fire severity effects on successional rates and trajectories.

Installing ALFRESCO

Minimum System Requirements

ALFRESCO runs on the Linux operating system, and will run on most distributions. Systems running the Fedora distribution can use the RPM downloads to install the software. Installation using this method will also install required packages as well automatically.

General Requirements

Required Libraries (minimum recommended version)

Optional Libraries

Downloads

Currently, ALFRESCO is available to the public as a binary download. The current version is provided in the links below.

Binary Distribution

alfresco.rpm (CentOS 6)

Installing from an RPM

After obtaining the binary for your distribution (see Downloads), install the software by running the following command:

sudo yum install alfresco.rpm

Using yum, library dependencies will be downloaded and installed as well, so there should be no need to manually install the required libraries. If you do not have access to install RPMs on your system, please contact your system administrator.

Installing via the SNAP repository

In addition to the above distribution methods, the ALFRESCO rpm can be installed / managed via a yum repo for CentOS based distributions. On CentOS, the alfresco rpm requires having a repository such as EPEL or ELGIS installed in order to provide access to GDAL prior to installing alfresco.

If you are interested in obtaining ALFRESCO, please contact apbennett@alaska.edu

Compiling/Installing from Source

Building ALFRESCO from source is a relatively straightforward process on most Linux distributions, but will have additional requirements. This is intended for systems not supported via binary installs, or for users that need to custom configure the build.

Library Requirements

Optional Libraries

Build Requirements

Once the above requirements are installed, the source is downloaded (see Downloads), and you have extracted it, you'll need to "cd" into the extracted directory. The steps to build a default version of ALFRESCO are fairly simple:

  1. cd alfresco/
  2. ./configure
  3. make
  4. sudo make install

By default, this will install alfresco into the default user space, typically /usr/bin for executables, and /usr/lib for libraries. If you wish to install alfresco in a non-standard location, the following steps will be used instead:

  1. cd alfresco/
  2. ./configure --prefix=<install-dir>
  3. make
  4. make install

For a non-standard install, you may also need to set the PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variables to point to the bin and lib directories inside the <install-dir> directory used in the above example. This can be done with the following commands in the Bash shell:

At this point, the software will be installed, and you can move on to the Getting Started section for setting up runs and input files.

Getting Started

.FIF Setup

The .FIF file is the main component of configuration of the ALFRESCO model. It contains parameterizations for model dynamics that allow the user to customize the scenario produced, offering options for fire dynamics, climate impacts, vegetation information, and more.

Configuration is done by editing a text file in compliance with the .FIF configuration settings. For available options, see Appendix A

Running ALFRESCO

Once ALFRESCO is installed, and the .FIF has been configured, the model can be run in a few steps:

  1. cd <output-path>
  2. fresco --fif <fif-file>

Alternatively, if MPI is installed, the parallel (MPI) version of the model can be run with:

  1. cd <output-path>
  2. mpirun -np <num-tasks> fresco-mpi --fif <fif-file>

For help options, run fresco --help

At this point the model will begin to run, and map files will be produced in <output-path>/Maps. Once the run is complete, statistics files will be generated, and will be produced as <stat-file>.txt

Appendix A: .FIF Configuration

Intro to the .FIF

The Boreal ALFRESCO .fif is an ascii text file containing all parameterizations for any particular simulation scenario. It can be edited within any general text editor (e.g., Notepad, Vim, gedit, etc.). Details for each .fif section are provided below. When a .fif file is opened, you can modify the parameters shown in the central column of the figure below. Do not change the default values highlighted in the following tables.

Values in the FIF follow the form of:

Variable = Value;

Program Parameters

Base Input

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
ClientFifPathBase directory for clients where input files can be found and map output will be saved.DEPRECATED - 2.0
ClientInputBasePathBase path for input data
ClientOutputBasePathBase path for local output dataDEPRECATED - 2.0
ServerOutputBasePathBase path for output dataDEPRECATED - 2.0

Simulation Settings

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
RandSeedA manually set number used to seed the random number generator. If not set, the current time is used to seed the random number generator.
Output.DetailLevelMINIMAL: Show only run progress. MODERATE: Show some interim calculations along with run detail. MAXIMUM: Show maximum detail along with run detail.
FirstYearThe first year of the simulation to run
LastYearThe last year of the simulation to run
MaxRepsThe number of replicates to run the model (i.e. x replicates total).

Raster Settings

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
XULCorner"x origin", "top left corner". Usually in meters.
YULCorner"y origin", "top left corner". Usually in meters.
XOffsetNumber of pixels from the left (XULCorner) to start counting columns
YOffsetNumber of pixels from the top (YULCorner) to start counting rows
XSizeLandscape's width in pixels.
YSizeLandscape's height in pixels.
CellSizeThe size of each cell (in meters)
RequireAAEACProjectedInputRasters(optional -- defaults to TRUE) if TRUE, each input raster file will be checked for the Alaska Albers projection.
ApplyAAEACProjectionToOutputRasters(optional -- defaults to TRUE) if TRUE, each output raster file will include metadata for the Alaska Albers projection.

Landscape Parameters

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
SiteInputFileThe site input file
TreeDensityInputFileThe initial tree density input file
TopoInputFileElevation/akcanada_prism_slopeComplexity_1km.tifThe topography input file. 0=flat, 1=complex
BurnSeverityInputFileThe initial burn severity input file. 0=No Burn, 1=Low, 2=Moderate, 3=High w Low Surface Severity, 4=High w/ High Surface Severity
AgeInputFileThe initial age input file - years before present so positive values
VegInputFileThe vegetation input file, in format filename_REP_YEAR.tif
VegTransitionFileBase filename for forced vegetation transitions. Year is appended as _YR
IsForcedVegTransitionsTRUE: Succession trajectories are read from files as well as simulated. FALSE: Succession is simulated only.
UseUniqueVegAndAgePerRepUse unique input files for veg and age. This can be used to prevent a bias due to all reps starting from the same input data.
UseUniqueBurnSeverityPerRepUse unique input files for burn severity per rep. This prevents a bias due to all reps starting from the same input data.
YearOfUniqueInputPerRepThe year to be appended to the base filename when using unique veg, age andor burn severity files per rep. File format: filename_REP#_YEAR#.txt

Succession

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
CropNeighborsShould the neighbours algorithm crop calls to cells outside the circular boundary defined by size or should it include all the cells withing the square boundary defined by size.

Climate Settings

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
Climate.IsMonthlyIf true, Climate.TempMonths and PrecipMonths must be provided and the new fire equation based on monthly climate will be used. Monthly data does not work with SPATIAL or CONSTANT climate.value.types.
Climate.NumHistoryThe number of years to remember climate history including the current year.
Climate.TransitionYearsThe years in which fire type transitions occur.
Climate.Values.TypeCONSTANT: Single temp and precip value used for every cell over all years and reps. SPATIAL: Read in spatially unique temp and precip values from a file once and reuse it each year and rep. EXPLICIT: Read in spatially unique temp and precip values from a different file each year. Year is appended as _YR
Climate.Values.Temp.ConstantConstant temperature value for entire simulation on all land cells.
Climate.Values.Precip.ConstantConstant precipitation value for entire simulation on all land cells.
Climate.Values.Temp.FileBase filename for temperature maps.
Climate.Values.Precip.FileBase filename for precipitation maps.
Climate.Values.RandExplicit.MinYearFor use with RANDEXPLICIT climate type: Minimum simulation year for the random selection of climate temperature and precipitation maps.
Climate.Values.RandExplicit.MaxYearFor use with RANDEXPLICIT climate type: Maximum simulation year for the random selection of climate temperature and precipitation maps.
Climate.Values.RandExplicit.ReplicateIf true the RANDOMEXPLICIT climate type will apply the same random sequence of climate files every rep. Otherwise a different sequence is genereated per rep.
Climate.Flammability.FileClimate Flammibility Map path
Climate.Offsets.TypeNONE: No offsets applied. CONSTANT: Single temp and precip offset used for all cells on all years and reps. FILE: Offsets are read in from a file. RANDOM: Offsets are generated stochastically.
Climate.Offsets.FileThe file to use as inputoutput when using the FILE offset type.
Climate.Offsets.Constant.TempThe temperature offset used when for CONSTANT offset type scenarios.
Climate.Offsets.Constant.PrecipThe precipitation offset used when for CONSTANT offset type scenarios.
Climate.Offsets.Random.Temp.MeanThe mean of the offset from climate temperatures. Mean is of course expected to be 0 as the mean difference from the mean for that cell should be 0.
Climate.Offsets.Random.Temp.StdDevThe standard deviation of the offset from mean climate temperatures.
Climate.Offsets.Random.Precip.MeanThe mean of the offset from mean climate precipitation.
Climate.Offsets.Random.Precip.StdDevThe standard deviation of the offset from mean climate precipitation.
Climate.Offsets.Random.ReplicateIf true RANDOM offset type will apply the same stochastic offset sequence every rep. Otherwise a different sequence is genereated per rep.
Climate.StepsAndRampsEnabledIf true Ramps and Steps will be applied to the temporal offsets
Climate.Offsets.TempStepYearThe year that temperature steps occur. Must be a multiple of TempStep to occur.
Climate.Offsets.TempStepThe amount of the step that occurs in the specified year.
Climate.Offsets.TempRampYearThe year that temperature ramps change i.e. the new ramp is applied if the year is > the specified year.
Climate.Offsets.TempRampThe ramp (amount per year) that starts in the specified year.
Climate.Offsets.PrecipStepYearThe year that precipitation steps occur. Must be a multiple of TempStep to occur.
Climate.Offsets.PrecipStepThe amount of the step that occurs in the specified year.
Climate.Offsets.PrecipRampYearThe year that precipitation ramps change i.e. the new ramp is applied if the year is > the specified year.
Climate.Offsets.PrecipRampThe ramp (amount per year) that starts in the specified year.

Fire Behavior

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
Fire.TypesFIXED: Single ignition and sensitivity factor used. SPATIAL: Read ignition and sensitivity factors from files. HISTORICAL: Burns are scheduled across the landscape.
Fire.TypeTransitionYearsThe years in which fire type transitions occur.
Fire.EnabledEnable the fire model - usually set to TRUE.
Fire.SpreadRadiusThe maximum distance fire can spread (meters) - if CropNeighbours is set to false and this is less than CellSize it will check the adjacent cells only
Fire.SpreadParmsThe mean and stddev of the fire spread weighting function. Mean should always remain 0.
Fire.ClimateRegression relationship between fire probability and climate. When Climate.IsMonthly = FALSE the coefficients = {intercept, temp, precip}. When Climate.IsMonthly = TRUE, the coefficients = {intercept, tMar, tApr, tMay, tJun, pJun, pJul, tAprXpJul}
Fire.IgnoreFirstIntervalIgnore the first fire interval for a cell when calculating statistics - used to help eliminate startup bias in statistical calculations.
Fire.IgnitionFactorFire ignition multiplier - used to tweak fire ignition rates
Fire.SensitivityGeneral fire sensitivity parameter - used to tweak over fire sizenumber for a region
Fire.MaxEmpiricalFireSizeEventMaximum fire size event as observed in empirical data. (4000)
Fire.MaxEmpiricalFireSizeEventWeightWeight to be applied to fire spread probability when fire size exceeds the maximum.
Fire.HistoricalBase filename for historical fire maps.
Fire.HumanIgnition.BasenameBase filename for human igntion fire maps. Map Legend: 0 No human ignition 1 Possible human ignition (dependent on Human Ignition Prob).
Fire.Spatial.IgnitionFactorFilename for spatially explicit ignition map.
Fire.Spatial.SensitivityFilename for spatially explicit sensitivity map.
Fire.Suppression.OnApply suppression maps to fire spread caclulations?
Fire.Suppression.BasenameBase filename for suppression maps. Map Legend: 1-5 where 1 Most Suppression and 5 Least.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.YearsYear of suppression transitions (## '0' redundant here, but would make it easier to keep track of multiplier arrays below ##)
Fire.Suppression.Tran.HasNewMapFALSE = do not input new map, TRUE = input new map (must be supplied w corresponding _tran.year.txt)
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Class1Highest suppression level. Used as a multiplier in the fire spread function.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Class2Used as a multiplier in the fire spread function.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Class3Used as a multiplier in the fire spread function.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Class4Used as a multiplier in the fire spread function.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Class5Lowest suppression level. Usually 1 to give no suppression. Used as a multiplier in the fire spread function.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Threshold.FireSizeThe cutting point where suppressions stop being applied because the sum of the year's fire sizes exceeds the capability of available suppression resources.
Fire.Suppression.Tran.Threshold.IgnitionsThe cutting point where suppressions stop being applied because the amount of ignitions for the year exceeds the capability of available suppression resources.

Burn Severity

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
BurnSeverity.FxnOfFireSizeThe intercept and slope for logistic regression fxn returning probability of High Severity (level 3 or 4)
BurnSeverity.LSS-vs-HSS.wtProbability that a burn that is assigned High Severity has HSS. Low value is more likely to be LSS (level 3), high value is more likely to be HSS (level 4).
BurnSeverity.Low-vs-Moderate.wtProbability that a burn not assigned High Severity has Moderate Severity. Low value is more likely to give Low Severity (level 1), high value is more likely give Moderate (level 2)
BurnSeverity.FlatTopo.wt(0,1); Prob that Topo spatial correlation overrides initial Severity assignment; eg takes on Severity of Spreader cell
BurnSeverity.ComplexTopo.wt(0,1); Prob that Topo spatial correlation overrides initial Severity assignment

Veg Class Parameters

NoVeg

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
NoVegThe species number for the default frame type - should be 0 if possible

Black Spruce

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
BSpruceThe species number for the black spruce frame type - should be 1 if possible
BSpruce.StartAgeA constant distribution is used if only one parameter is specified. Otherwise two parameters should be specified: the lifetime and the shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
BSpruce.FireParmsParameters for the fire age function : k Max Fire Factor a Age Coefficient (Age ab) b Slope Coefficient
BSpruce.HumanFireProbProbability of human causes will cause this species type to burn.

White Spruce

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
WSpruceThe species number for the white spruce frame type - should be 2 if possible
WSpruce.StartAgeA constant distribution is used if only one parameter is specified. Otherwise two parameters should be specified: the lifetime and the shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
WSpruce.FireParmsParameters for the fire age function : k Max Fire Factor a Age Coefficient (Age ab) b Slope Coefficient
WSpruce.HumanFireProbProbability of human causes will cause this species type to burn.

Deciduous

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
DecidThe species number for the deciduous frame type - should be 3 if possible
Decid.StartAge.WSpruceA constant distribution is used if only one parameter is specified. Otherwise two parameters should be specified: the lifetime and the shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
Decid.StartAge.BSpruceA constant distribution is used if only one parameter is specified. Otherwise two parameters should be specified: the lifetime and the shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
Decid.FireProb.IsAgeDependentIf TRUE: Decid.FirePorb requires an array of three parameters {k,a,b} in that order for a logistic function k(1+exp(a-b*x)) used to translate age to fire factor. If FALSE: Decid.FireProb requires a single constant value (no array).
Decid.FireProbProbability of this species type burning.
Decid.HumanFireProbProbability of human causes will cause this species type to burn.
Decid.HistoryThe number of years of climate that a deciduous frame uses to make decisions. Includes the current year.
Decid->Tundra.ParmsDegree-years are integrated from base A (i.e. temp < A). A transition occurs if the integrand exceeds B*(The maximum number of steps i.e. HistoryTimeStep).
The following 8 fields are sets of two coefficients, {A, B}, used depending on the trajectory and last burn severity of the given decid cell. The chosen values are used in a linear function relating age to the probability of transitioning to white or black spruce: A*Age + B.
Decid->WSpruce.BurnSeverity[1]1 = Low Severity 20:40 years
Decid->WSpruce.BurnSeverity[2]2 = Moderate Severity 40:60 years
Decid->WSpruce.BurnSeverity[3]3 = High Severity + Low Surface Severity 60:90 years
Decid->WSpruce.BurnSeverity[4]4 = High Severity + High Surface Severity 90:130 years
Decid->BSpruce.BurnSeverity[1]1 = Low Severity 5:15 years
Decid->BSpruce.BurnSeverity[2]2 = Moderate Severity 15:30 years
Decid->BSpruce.BurnSeverity[3]3 = High Severity + Low Surface Severity 30:50 years
Decid->BSpruce.BurnSeverity[4]4 = High Severity + High Surface Severity 50:90 years

Shrub Tundra

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
ShrubTundraThe species number for the shrub frame type - should be 4 if possible
ShrubTundra.StartAgeParameters for the starting age function. If one parameter is specified assume a constant distribution. Otherwise parameters are the lifetime and shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
ShrubTundra.FireProb{0.77,0.73,0.1} Probablity of this species type burning.
ShrubTundra.FireProb.IsAgeDependentIf TRUE: Tundra.FireProb requires an array of three parameters {k,a,b} in that order for a logistic function k/(1+exp(a-b*x)) used to translate age to fire factor. If FALSE: Tundra.FireProb requires a single constant value (no array).
ShrubTundra.HumanFireProbProbability of human causes that will cause this species type to burn.
ShrubTundra.Spruce.EstBAEstimate of the basal area of mature forest - used to calculate seed dispersal for the initial BA assignment routine.
ShrubTundra.SeedRangeDistance to the maximum seed source in meters.
ShrubTundra.SeedSourceThe mean travel distance(meters) and fraction of thin tail (1-fraction fat tail) in the distribution kernel.
ShrubTundra.Seed.BasalAreaThe number of seeds/Ha produced per unit basal area (m2/Ha).
ShrubTundra.SeedlingSeed to seedling ratio including viability factor.
ShrubTundra.SeedlingBAInitial basal area of a seedling (m2) - based on a 5mm diameter
ShrubTundra.HistoryThe number of years of climate that a deciduous frame uses to make decisions. Includes the current year.
ShrubTundra.SeedEstParmsSeedling establishment parameters - cuttoff temp avg degree days/year cutoff
ShrubTundra.MeanGrowthMean spruce growth (m) - this discounts the known trend in growth through time.
ShrubTundra.ClimGrowthThree coefficients (Int Temp Precip) for the relative growth factor - from a regression against climate.
ShrubTundra.CalFactorCalibration factors to move from cohort growth model to exponential growth model - growth seed set
ShrubTundra->Spruce.BasalAreaBasal area at which tundra transitions to spruce (m2/Ha). A mature spruce stand is assumed to be about double this.
ShrubTundra.IgnitionDepressor[optional] Value should be between 0 and 1. Decreases the likelihood of ignitions for any cell of this species.
ShrubTundra.SpruceTransitionYearYear to begin dispersal of Spruce into Shrub TundraADDED - 2.1
ShrubTundra.TundraTransitionYearYear to begin succession transitions for Shrub TundraADDED - 2.1

Graminoid Tundra

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
GraminoidTundraThe species number for the shrub frame type - should be 5 if possible
GraminoidTundra.StartAgeParameters for the starting age function. If one parameter is specified assume a constant distribution. Otherwise parameters are the lifetime and shape parameters for a Weibull distribution.
GraminoidTundra.FireProb{0.77,0.73,0.1} Probablity of this species type burning.
GraminoidTundra.FireProb.IsAgeDependentIf TRUE: Tundra.FireProb requires an array of three parameters {k,a,b} in that order for a logistic function k/(1+exp(a-b*x)) used to translate age to fire factor. If FALSE: Tundra.FireProb requires a single constant value (no array).
GraminoidTundra.HumanFireProbProbability of human causes that will cause this species type to burn.
GraminoidTundra.Spruce.EstBAEstimate of the basal area of mature forest - used to calculate seed dispersal for the initial BA assignment routine.
GraminoidTundra.SeedRangeDistance to the maximum seed source in meters.
GraminoidTundra.SeedSourceThe mean travel distance(meters) and fraction of thin tail (1-fraction fat tail) in the distribution kernel.
GraminoidTundra.Seed.BasalAreaThe number of seeds/Ha produced per unit basal area (m2/Ha).
GraminoidTundra.SeedlingSeed to seedling ratio including viability factor.
GraminoidTundra.SeedlingBAInitial basal area of a seedling (m2) - based on a 5mm diameter
GraminoidTundra.HistoryThe number of years of climate that a deciduous frame uses to make decisions. Includes the current year.
GraminoidTundra.SeedEstParmsSeedling establishment parameters - cuttoff temp avg degree days/year cutoff
GraminoidTundra.MeanGrowthMean spruce growth (m) - this discounts the known trend in growth through time.
GraminoidTundra.ClimGrowthThree coefficients (Int Temp Precip) for the relative growth factor - from a regression against climate.
GraminoidTundra.CalFactorCalibration factors to move from cohort growth model to exponential growth model - growth seed set
GraminoidTundra->Spruce.BasalAreaBasal area at which tundra transitions to spruce (m2/Ha). A mature spruce stand is assumed to be about double this.
GraminoidTundra.IgnitionDepressor[optional] Value should be between 0 and 1. Decreases the likelihood of ignitions for any cell of this species.
GraminoidTundra.SummerWarmthIndexSummer Warmth Index Value (Summer mean monthly degrees > 0) at which transitions toward Shrub Tundra may begin
GraminoidTundra.SpruceTransitionYearYear to begin dispersal of Spruce into Graminoid TundraADDED - 2.1
GraminoidTundra.TundraTransitionYearYear to begin succession transitions for Graminoid TundraADDED - 2.1

Barren / Lichen Moss

This class is currently used as a placeholder. It does not burn or transition, and is primarily used for integrating with other models.

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
BarrenLichenMossThe species number for the barren lichen moss frame type - should be 7 if possibleADDED - 2.1

Temperate Rainforest

This class is currently used as a placeholder. It does not burn or transition, and is primarily used for integrating with other models.

FieldDescriptionVersion Notes
TemperateRainforestThe species number for the temperate rainforest frame type - should be 8 if possibleADDED - 2.1

Tundra Parameters

Burn Severity

Burn Severity in Boreal ALFRESCO is modeled to reflect the following two assumptions (Duffy et al. 2007):

  1. Burn Severity increases w/ Firesize (as a consequence of sub-regions of larger fires burning more severely as opposed to a uniform increase in burn severity).
  2. Fires burning in the Flats have greater spatial correlation in burn severity than those burning in complex topography.
Algorithm:
  1. Ignition of cell -> Assign Low Severity
  2. As a fire spreads, a logistic probability function is used to assign severity to each burned cell (slope and intercept user specified in .fif).

    IF (rand.uniform(0,1) < Prob[High Severity Fire]) Severity = High, ELSE Severity = (Low or Moderate)

  3. Select Severity sub-category from the binary partition above. High severity fires can have either Low or High surface severity, and also partition the Low or Moderate severity fires. The ‘decision’ weights are user specified in .fif.

    IF (Init.severity = High && rand.uniform(0,1) < High.LSS.HSS.wt) severity = High + HSS, ELSE severity = High + LSS

    IF (Init.severity = Low.Mod && rand.uniform(0,1) < Low.Mod.wt) severity = Moderate, ELSE severity = Low

  4. A second set of decision weights (user specified in .fif) are used to determine if topographical influences override the severity assignment resulting from 2) and 3) above.

    IF (Topography = Flat && rand.uniform(0,1) < Flats.Topo.wt) severity -> ‘Spreader Cell Severity’

    IF (Topography = Complex && rand.uniform(0,1) < Complex.Topo.wt) Severity -> ‘Spreader Cell Severity’

Change Log

2.1

2.0

ALFRESCO Model References

BUTLER, L.G., K. KIELLAND, T.S. RUPP, AND T.A. HANLEY. 2007. Interactive controls by herbivory and fluvial dynamics over landscape vegetation patterns along the Tanana River, interior Alaska. Journal of Biogeography. 34:1622-1631.

DUFFY, P., J. EPTING, J.M. GRAHAM, T.S. RUPP, AND A.D. McGuire. 2007. Analysis of Alaskan fire severity patterns using remotely sensed data. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 16:277-284.

RUPP, T.S., X. CHEN, M. OLSON, AND A.D. McGUIRE. 2007. Sensitivity of simulated land cover dynamics to uncertainties in climate drivers. Earth Interactions. 11(3):1-21.

HU, F.S., L.B. BRUBAKER, D.G. GAVIN, P.E. HIGUERA, J.A. LYNCH, T.S. RUPP, AND W. TINNER. 2006. How climate and vegetation influence the fire regime of the Alaskan boreal biome: the Holocene perspective. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (MITI). 11(4):829-846.

RUPP, T.S., OLSON, M., HENKELMAN, J., ADAMS, L., DALE, B., JOLY, K., COLLINS, W., and A.M. STARFIELD. 2006. Simulating the influence of a changing fire regime on caribou winter foraging habitat. Ecological Applications. 16(5):1730-1743.

CHAPIN, F.S., III, M. STURM, M.C. SERREZE, J.P McFADDEN, J.R. KEY, A.H. LLOYD, A.D. McGUIRE, T.S. RUPP, A.H. LYNCH, J.P SCHIMEL, J. BERINGER, W.L. CHAPMAN, H.E. EPSTEIN, E.S. EUSKIRCHEN, L.D. HINZMAN, G. JIA, C.L. PING, K.D. TAPE, C.D.C. THOMPSON, D.A. WALKER, and J.M. WELKER,. 2005. Role of Land-Surface Changes in Arctic Summer Warming. Science. Published online September 22 2005; 10.1126/science.1117368 (SCIENCE EXPRESS Reports).

DUFFY, P.A., J.E. WALSH, J.M. GRAHAM, D.H. MANN, and T.S. RUPP. 2005. Impacts of the east Pacific teleconnection on Alaskan fire climate. Ecological Applications. 15(4):1317-1330.

LLOYD, A., T.S. RUPP, C. FASTIE, and A.M. STARFIELD. 2003. Patterns and dynamics of treeline advance on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. 108(D2):8161, DOI: 10.1029/2001JD00852.

CHAPIN, F.S., III, T.S. RUPP, A.M. STARFIELD, L. DeWILDE, E.S. ZAVALETA, N. FRESCO, J. HENKELMAN, and A.D. McGUIRE. 2003. Planning for resilience: modeling change in human-fire interactions in the Alaskan boreal forest. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 1(5):255-261.

TURNER, M.G., S.L. COLLINS, A.L. LUGO, J.J. MAGNUSON, T.S. RUPP, and F.J. SWANSON. 2003. Disturbance Dynamics and Ecological Response: The Contribution of Long-term Ecological Research. BioScience. 53(1)46-56.

RUPP, T.S., A.M. STARFIELD, F.S. CHAPIN III, and P. DUFFY. 2002. Modeling the impact of black spruce on the fire regime of Alaskan boreal forest. Climatic Change 55: 213-233.

RUPP, T.S., R.E. KEANE, S. LAVOREL, M.D. FLANNIGAN, and G.J. CARY. 2001. Towards a classification of landscape-fire-succession models. GCTE News 17: 1-4.

RUPP, T.S., F.S. CHAPIN III, and A.M. STARFIELD. 2001. Modeling the influence of topographic barriers on treeline advance of the forest-tundra ecotone in northwestern Alaska. Climatic Change 48: 399-416.

RUPP, T.S., A.M. STARFIELD, and F.S. CHAPIN III. 2000. A frame-based spatially explicit model of subarctic vegetation response to climatic change: comparison with a point model. Landscape Ecology 15: 383-400.

RUPP, T.S., F.S. CHAPIN III, and A.M. STARFIELD. 2000. Response of subarctic vegetation to transient climatic change on the Seward Peninsula in northwest Alaska. Global Change Biology 6: 451-455.