Geology topics

Casey Elizabeth Menick

Publications and source records attributed to Casey Elizabeth Menick.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Tracking decadal changes in frequent fire activity across the southeastern U.S. (2000-2019): Insights from Southeast FireMap

Background The dominant natural habitats in the southeastern United States depend on frequent fire ignited by humans or lightning. However, fire activity has sharply declined in the region since the early 1900s, and reduced fire activity has degraded natural habitats and increased wildfire risk. Identifying changes in fire use during recent decades is necessary to guide the conservation of fire-dependent wildlife, management of hazardous fuels, and identify areas where increased fire use could improve ecosystem resilience. To address this need, we created the Southeast FireMap dataset by fine-tuning the United States Geological Survey’s Landsat Burned Area product to track burned area, and provide a fire history across the southeastern United States. We used the Southeast FireMap data to quantify changes in areas frequently burned, as measured by areas with multiple burns within a decade. We compared the periods 2000–2009 and 2010–2019 to identify where frequently burned area is increasing or declining. We examined patterns of change across ownership, land cover, and soil orders to provide geographic context, and we considered future implications of these changes for land use categories of ecological interest. Results Frequently burned area increased between decades across the region. This increase occurred on both private and public lands, in upland vegetation types, and on upland soils, though these increases were moderately offset by decreased wetland burning and its associated soil orders. However, changes varied among states, with burned area decreasing in some states. Conclusions The overall increase in frequently burned area across the region reflects a summation of positive and negative shifts associated with specific combinations of physiography, ownership class, and government jurisdiction. Southeast FireMap marks a significant advancement in our ability to identify changes in prescribed burning within the geographic and cultural contexts that will likely influence the complex future of fire in the region.

southeastern United States↗

USGS2025

Offsetting the noise: A framework for applying phenological offset corrections in remotely sensed burn severity assessments

Background Phenological correction of pre- and post-fire imagery is used to improve remotely sensed burn severity evaluations. Unburned offset values standardize greenness between image pairs; however, efficacy across diverse scenarios remains underexplored. Aims We evaluated the impact of phenological offset correction methods to support analyst decision-making across fire-prone environments. Methods We generated burn severity spectral index values for a dataset of Composite Burn Index (CBI) field plots across the conterminous US. The effectiveness of offset corrections was tested across image selection techniques, spectral indices, offset generation methods and burn perimeter sources. We assessed the influence of offset corrections on the modeled relationship with CBI, agreement between burn severity thresholds and potential bias. Key results Applying offset corrections consistently improved the modeled relationship with CBI by addressing extreme outlier severity values. However, automated offset corrections had the potential to introduce bias, systematically lowering severity values and reducing correspondence with observed burn severity categories. Conclusions Offset corrections offer benefits but also present trade-offs to accurately representing remotely sensed burn severity. Implications The utility of offset corrections depends on the environment, methods and scale of analysis. We propose a decision-tree framework for analysts to consider when employing offset corrections given their study scope.

conterminous United States↗

USGS2025

Modelling and mapping burn severity of prescribed and wildfires across the southeastern United States (2000-2022)

Background The southeastern United States (‘Southeast’) experiences high levels of fire activity, but the preponderance of small and prescribed fires means that existing burn severity products are incomplete across the region. Aims We developed and applied a burn severity model across the Southeast to enhance our understanding of regional burn severity patterns. Methods We used Composite Burn Index (CBI) plot data from across the conterminous US (CONUS) to train a gradient-boosted decision tree model. The model was optimised for the Southeast and applied to the annual Landsat Burned Area product for 2000–2022 across the region. Key results The burn severity model had a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.48 ( R 2 = 0.70) and 0.50 ( R 2 = 0.37) for the CONUS and Southeast, respectively. The Southeast, relative to CONUS, had lower mean absolute residuals in low and moderate burn severity categories. Burn severity was consistently lower in areas affected by prescribed burns relative to wildfires. Conclusions Although regional performance was limited by a lack of high burn severity CBI plots, the burn severity dataset demonstrated patterns consistent with low-severity, frequent fire regimes characteristic of Southeastern ecosystems. Implications More complete data on burn severity will enhance regional management of fire-dependent ecosystems and improve estimates of fuels and fire emissions.

Southeastern United States↗