Data and code from: Seasonal influence on post-fire debris flow likelihood on the 2020 Lake Fire
Data files
Sep 22, 2026 version files 279.93 MB
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README.md
3.56 KB
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RepositoryData.zip
279.93 MB
Abstract
The increasing severity of wildfires in Western North America could lead to an increased likelihood of post-fire debris flows (PFDF), specifically those triggered by heavy rain events. PFDF likelihoods are highest in the first year and tend to decrease over time. However, it is not well understood how seasonal variation affects the initiation of PFDFs in the years following the fire. Here, we monitored the changes in PFDF likelihood of the 2020 Lake Fire in Southern California over a span of four years using field and satellite observations together with numerical modeling for a subset of drainage basins within the burn area. We found that hydraulic conductivity increased by an order of magnitude during the dry season as compared to the wet season, significantly reducing the PFDF likelihood. Our simulations show that vegetation cover has a smaller impact on PFDF likelihood as compared to hydraulic conductivity or grain size. This study helps clarify the impacts of hydraulic conductivity, grain size, and vegetation due to seasonal variation four years after the fire. We suggest that field measurements and modeling approaches should consider how different climate and seasonal patterns could influence PFDF even after several years following the fire.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz6t
Access information
This file contains the dataset and MATLAB scripts used for processing and analysis in Chong et al. (2026), published at NHESS (egusphere-2025-4671).
Description of the data and file structure
Unzip the file (RepositoryData.zip) to extract the following:
NDVI folder
- This contains the raster images (.tif) of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for each PlanetScope image downloaded.
- The images are sorted by year and named with their dates.
Simulation folder
- This includes three folders of CSV files along with a folder for KWAVE:
- All_Basin_modelparams_senstivity_summary-CSV folder contains "Year1_summary.csv", "Year4W_summary.csv", "Year4D_summary.csv": compiled the fraction of number of slopes exceeding the threshold for the sensitivity tests, one file per year block (Year1 = baseline, Year4W = wet year, Year4D = dry year).
- All_Basin_modelparams_senstivity-CSV folder contains "BasinA_sensitivity.csv" through "BasinE_sensitivity.csv": list of parameters (and the units accordingly) for the sensitivity tests, one file per basin.
- All_Basin_modelparams-CSV folder contains "Fish_Fire_modelparams.csv", "BasinA_modelparams.csv" through "BasinF_modelparams.csv": list of parameters for all the basins with field and satellite observation inputs, one file per basin, plus a separate file for the Fish Fire/Buzzard Fire/Pinal Fire comparison sites. Units are listed in the file accordingly (blank where the parameter is dimensionless).
- KWAVE folder consist of the textfiles and MATLAB functions needed to run the model.
- Note: The KWAVE model source code itself is not included in this repository, it is distributed separately by its original authors under a GPL-3.0 license (https://github.com/csdms-contrib/KWAVE). Users must obtain and compile KWAVE independently; see https://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Model:KWAVE. Only our original wrapper and post-processing scripts (below) are included here.
- CompliedKwave.m: wrapper scrupt to run kinematic.c
- Plot_heatmap_senstivity.m: used to plot the values from "All_Basin_modelparams_sensitivity_summary.xlsx".
- Plot_rainfall_v2.m: plots the rainfall intensity.
- "128B_Logger_15-min.csv": precipitation data from LADPW
Textfiles folder
- "_DEM.txt": textfiles (ASCII) for all the basins' DEM.
- "_Slope.txt": textfile (ASCII) for all the basins' slope.
- "_Channel.txt": textfile (ASCII) for all the basins' channels.
- "_ChannelSlope.tif": Raster file of the slopes within the channel (extracted from "Slope.txt and Channel.txt")
- "GrainSize_compilation_2020-2024.csv": the compiled version of the grain sizes for the basins from the three field surveys in 2020 and 2024. Units are listed in the file accordingly.
- "HydraulicPermeability-2024-compiled.txt": the compiled version of the measured hydraulic conductivity from the two field surveys in 2024 (Basins A, B, D, and E; no field station at Basins C or F). Units are listed in the file accordingly.
- "Sieve_December2020.txt", "Sieve_April2024.txt", "Sieve_September2024.txt": measured sieve mass (g) retained at each grain size (mm), for the three field surveys respectively. September 2024 has no Basin C column (no sample collected).