multivariate
The forest cover type for 30 x 30 meter cells obtained from US Forest Service (USFS) Region 2 Resource Information System (RIS) data.
Remote Sensing and GIS Program Department of Forest Sciences College of Natural Resources Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 (contact Jock A. Blackard, jblackard/[email protected] or Dr. Denis J. Dean, [email protected])
Jock A. Blackard USDA Forest Service 3825 E. Mulberry Fort Collins, CO 80524 USA jblackard/[email protected]
Dr. Denis J. Dean Associate Professor Department of Forest Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA [email protected]
Dr. Charles W. Anderson Associate Professor Department of Computer Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA [email protected]
Date Donated: August 28, 1998
The actual forest cover type for a given observation (30 x 30 meter cell) was determined from US Forest Service (USFS) Region 2 Resource Information System (RIS) data. Independent variables were derived from data originally obtained from US Geological Survey (USGS) and USFS data. Data is in raw form (not scaled) and contains binary (0 or 1) columns of data for qualitative independent variables (wilderness areas and soil types).
| Number of instances (observations) | 581012 |
| Number of Attributes | 54 |
| Attribute breakdown | 12 measures, but 54 columns of data (10 quantitative variables, 4 binary wilderness areas and 40 binary soil type variables) |
| Missing Attribute Values | None |
Given is the variable name, variable type, the measurement unit and a brief description. The forest cover type is the classification problem. The order of this listing corresponds to the order of numerals along the rows of the database.
Name Data Type Measurement Description
Elevation quantitative meters Elevation in meters
Aspect quantitative azimuth Aspect in degrees azimuth
Slope quantitative degrees Slope in degrees
Horizontal_Distance_To_Hydrology quantitative meters Horz Dist to nearest surface water features
Vertical_Distance_To_Hydrology quantitative meters Vert Dist to nearest surface water features
Horizontal_Distance_To_Roadways quantitative meters Horz Dist to nearest roadway
Hillshade_9am quantitative 0 to 255 index Hillshade index at 9am, summer solstice
Hillshade_Noon quantitative 0 to 255 index Hillshade index at noon, summer soltice
Hillshade_3pm quantitative 0 to 255 index Hillshade index at 3pm, summer solstice
Horizontal_Distance_To_Fire_Points quantitative meters Horz Dist to nearest wildfire ignition points
Wilderness_Area (4 binary columns) qualitative 0 (absence) or 1 (presence) Wilderness area designation
Soil_Type (40 binary columns) qualitative 0 (absence) or 1 (presence) Soil Type designation
Cover_Type (7 types) integer 1 to 7 Forest Cover Type designation
Wilderness Areas:
1 -- Rawah Wilderness Area
2 -- Neota Wilderness Area
3 -- Comanche Peak Wilderness Area
4 -- Cache la Poudre Wilderness Area
Soil Types:
1 to 40 : based on the USFS Ecological Landtype Units for this study area.
Forest Cover Types:
1 -- Spruce/Fir
2 -- Lodgepole Pine
3 -- Ponderosa Pine
4 -- Cottonwood/Willow
5 -- Aspen
6 -- Douglas-fir
7 -- Krummholz
Number of records of Spruce-Fir: 211840
Number of records of Lodgepole Pine: 283301
Number of records of Ponderosa Pine: 35754
Number of records of Cottonwood/Willow: 2747
Number of records of Aspen: 9493
Number of records of Douglas-fir: 17367
Number of records of Krummholz: 20510
Number of records of other: 0
Total records: 581012
Blackard, Jock A. 1998. “Comparison of Neural Networks and Discriminant Analysis in Predicting Forest Cover Types.” Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Forest Sciences. Colorado State University. Fort Collins, Colorado.
NOTE: Reuse of this database is unlimited with retention of copyright notice for Jock A. Blackard and Colorado State University.