RxCADRE

Prescribed Fire Combustion and Atmospheric Dynamics Research Experiment

Overview

The RxCADRE module provides access to datasets from the Prescribed Fire Combustion and Atmospheric Dynamics Research Experiment (RxCADRE). This multi-disciplinary project involved 90 scientists collecting fire behavior, fuels, meteorology, energy, smoke emissions, and fire effects data from prescribed fires at Eglin Air Force Base (Florida) and the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center (Georgia) during 2008, 2011, and 2012.

Data Source: USFS Research Data Archive

Reference: Ottmar, R.D. et al. (2016). “Measurements, datasets and preliminary results from the RxCADRE project — 2008, 2011 and 2012.” International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25(1), 1-14.

No API key is required.

Available Datasets

Dataset	Category	Description	Size	Years
`:fuel_loading`	fuels	Ground fuel loading, consumption, and fuel moisture	61 KB	2008-2012
`:ground_cover`	fuels	Pre/post-burn percent cover (green, NPV, char, ash, soil)	0.6 MB	2008-2012
`:fire_behavior`	fire_behavior	In-situ flame temperature, mass flow, intensity, rate of spread	3.6 GB	2012
`:weather`	meteorology	Wind, temperature, RH, pressure at multiple heights (2-sec)	54 MB	2012
`:wind_lidar`	meteorology	Doppler wind LiDAR and microwave profiler data	238 MB	2012
`:radiometer_locations`	energy	Radiometer deployment locations	0.65 MB	2008-2012
`:radiometer_data`	energy	Fire radiative power (FRP) and energy (FRE) measurements	107 MB	2012
`:smoke_emissions`	emissions	Airborne CO2, CO, CH4 concentrations in smoke plumes	0.82 MB	2012

Basic Usage

using WildfireData.RxCADRE

# List all datasets
RxCADRE.datasets()

# Filter by category
RxCADRE.datasets(category=:fuels)

# Get info about a dataset
RxCADRE.info(:fuel_loading)

# Get the USFS catalog URL
RxCADRE.catalog_url(:fuel_loading)

Downloading Data

Data is downloaded as ZIP archives from the USFS Research Data Archive, then CSV files are automatically extracted.

# Download a dataset (extracts CSVs to local storage)
path = RxCADRE.download(:fuel_loading)

# List the extracted files
RxCADRE.list_files(:fuel_loading)

# Force re-download
path = RxCADRE.download(:fuel_loading, force=true)

Loading Data

Extracted CSV files are loaded as DataFrames.

using DataFrames

# Single-file datasets load directly
df = RxCADRE.load(:ground_cover)

# Multi-file datasets: specify which file
RxCADRE.list_files(:fuel_loading)
df = RxCADRE.load(:fuel_loading, file="CADRE_2008_2011_2012_Fuel_moistures.csv")

# Load all files at once as a Dict
all_data = RxCADRE.load_all(:smoke_emissions)

Working with Fuel Moisture Data

RxCADRE.download(:fuel_loading, verbose=false)
df = RxCADRE.load(:fuel_loading, file="CADRE_2008_2011_2012_Fuel_moistures.csv")

# Filter by year
df_2012 = filter(r -> r.Year == 2012, df)

Working with Ground Cover Data

RxCADRE.download(:ground_cover, verbose=false)
df = RxCADRE.load(:ground_cover)

# Examine pre/post-burn changes
select(df, :Unit, :PlotNum, :Pre_Green_perc, :Post_Green_perc)

Working with Smoke Emissions

RxCADRE.download(:smoke_emissions, verbose=false)

# Load all emission and dispersion files
all_data = RxCADRE.load_all(:smoke_emissions)

# Work with a specific burn
emissions = RxCADRE.load(:smoke_emissions, file="Emissions_L2F_20121111.csv")
dispersion = RxCADRE.load(:smoke_emissions, file="SmokeDispersion_L2F_20121111.csv")

API Reference

Functions

datasets(; category) - List available RxCADRE datasets, optionally filtered by category
info(dataset) - Print dataset metadata (RDS ID, description, size, DOI)
catalog_url(dataset) - Get the USFS Research Data Archive catalog URL
download(dataset; force, verbose) - Download and extract dataset ZIP files
list_files(dataset) - List extracted data files
load(dataset; file, skipto) - Load a CSV file as a DataFrame
load_all(dataset; skipto) - Load all CSV files as a Dict of DataFrames
dir() - Get local data directory path