Overstory and Understory Fuel Map of Central Portugal- FirEUrisk Pilot Site 3 (PS3)

<p><a>Fuel mapping is essential for improving fire risk assessment and enhancing fire behavior modeling. Although approximately 2% of European wildfires are classified as crown fires—extreme events responsible for the most significant damage—there is currently a lack of comprehensive methods for mapping both surface and canopy fuels within an integrated classification system.</a></p>

<p><a>This dataset provides fuel type maps for the overstory and understory, generated by considering forest structure and phenology in Central Portugal, specifically at the FirEUrisk Pilot Site 3 (PS3). The dataset has a spatial resolution of 20 meters and includes three distinct fuel maps: Overstory fuel type map (19 classes), Understory fuel type map (7 classes), and Integrated overstory and understory fuel type map (55 classes).</a></p>

<p><a>This dataset contributes to the advancement of wildfire risk assessment by providing detailed and structured fuel classification, supporting better predictions of fire behavior and aiding in fire management strategies. More information about generation of these maps can be found in: Mohammadpour, P., D. Viegas, X., Pereira, A., and Chuvieco, E.,: Multitemporal Sentinel and GEDI data integration for overstory and understory fuel type classification, International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation, special issue: Remote Sensing of Wildfires, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2025.104455, 2025.</a></p>