Historical Wildfire Catalog of Catalonia (1986–2023) Enriched with Meteorological and Drought Indices

Abstract This dataset contains a comprehensive, highly enriched spatial catalog of wildfires that occurred in Catalonia, Spain, between 1986 and 2023. It combines official fire perimeters with detailed meteorological data, drought indices, and historical climate baselines extracted at the time and location of each fire event. This dataset is designed to facilitate research on fire-weather relationships, climate change impacts on fire regimes, and the pre-conditioning of landscapes for large wildfires. Data Sources & Methodology Spatial Fire Perimeters: The base geometry and fire occurrence data were provided by the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya (ICGC) WEB. Meteorological Enrichment: For each unique fire event (fire_id), meteorological and drought variables were extracted at the spatial centroid of the fire perimeter for the specific date of ignition using [ERA5 reanalysis data]. Climatological Baseline & Anomalies: To contextualize the weather conditions, a historical baseline (1981–2000 reference period) was calculated for the exact day of the year the fire occurred. This allows for the direct calculation of weather anomalies at the time of ignition. File Structure and Format The dataset is provided as a single GeoJSON file (fires_CAT_with_meteo_final.geojson), making it immediately compatible with Python (GeoPandas), R (sf), and standard GIS software (QGIS, ArcGIS). Every feature represents a single fire event containing a MultiPolygon geometry. Key Variables Included: Identifier & Spatial Info: fire_id, date, year, month, lon, lat, area_ha (Total burned area in hectares), geometry. Observed Meteorology (Day of Fire): pr (Precipitation), tas (Temperature), hurs (Relative Humidity), wind (Wind Speed), windmax (Max Wind Speed/Gusts), vpd (Vapor Pressure Deficit). Fire & Drought Indices: fwi (Fire Weather Index), spei3 (3-month SPEI), spei12 (12-month SPEI), spei12_lagged. Climatological Baselines: Variables ending in _clim represent the expected historical average for that location and day of the year (1981-2000 baseline). Anomalies: Variables ending in _anomaly represent the deviation of the observed weather from the climatological baseline (Observed - Baseline). Additional Zenodo Fields to Remember: Creators: Civantos-Prieto, David (Lobelia Earth); Peña-Izquierdo, Jesus (Lobelia Earth); Teruel Cano, David (Lobelia Earth); Cendagorta-Galarza Friend, Daniel (Lobelia Earth); Perpinyà-Vallès, Martí (Lobelia Earth); Huertas, Claudia (Lobelia Earth); Urricelqui, Claudia (Lobelia Earth). Keywords: Wildfires, Catalonia, Fire Weather Index (FWI), Drought (SPEI), GeoJSON, Climate Anomalies, Spatial Analysis.