Boundary Mapping

Description

Validates fire perimeter geometry and provides boundary analysis. Calculates perimeter statistics, identifies geometry issues, and compares reported versus calculated acreage. Essential for verifying NIFC perimeter data quality and identifying mapping inconsistencies.

Triggers

When should the agent invoke this skill?

•User asks about fire perimeter or boundary
•Questions about fire extent or area calculations
•Request to validate perimeter geometry
•Query about reported vs actual acreage discrepancy
•Questions about sector boundary alignment
•Perimeter quality assessment requests

Instructions

Step-by-step reasoning for the agent:

•
Load Perimeter Data: Retrieve geometry data for the specified fire
- •Accept fire_id parameter to identify the fire
- •Load sector geometries from fixtures or provided data
- •Validate that geometries are present
•
Validate Geometry: Check each sector polygon for issues
- •Verify polygon closure (first point = last point)
- •Check for valid coordinate ranges
- •Identify self-intersections if possible
•
Calculate Statistics: Compute perimeter metrics
- •Calculate perimeter length (degrees to approximate meters)
- •Calculate area from coordinates
- •Sum across all sectors
•
Compare Acreage: Check reported vs calculated
- •Convert calculated area to acres
- •Compare to reported acres
- •Flag significant discrepancies (>5%)
•
Generate Report: Document findings
- •List any geometry issues found
- •Provide perimeter statistics
- •Include acreage comparison

Inputs

Input	Type	Required	Description
fire_id	string	Yes	Unique fire identifier (e.g., "cedar-creek-2022")
sectors	array	No	Optional pre-loaded sector data (uses fixtures if not provided)
tolerance	number	No	Acreage discrepancy tolerance percentage (default: 5.0)

Outputs

Output	Type	Description
fire_id	string	The validated fire identifier
fire_name	string	Display name of the fire
total_perimeter_km	number	Combined perimeter length in kilometers
reported_acres	number	Official reported acreage
calculated_acres	number	Acreage computed from geometry
acreage_discrepancy_pct	number	Percentage difference
sector_boundaries	array	Per-sector boundary statistics
geometry_issues	array	List of detected geometry problems
validation_status	string	VALID, WARNING, or INVALID
reasoning_chain	array	Step-by-step validation decisions

Reasoning Chain

Step-by-step reasoning for the agent:

•First, load sector geometries for the specified fire
•Then, validate each polygon for closure and coordinate validity
•Next, calculate perimeter length and area for each sector
•Then, compare calculated total to reported acreage
•Finally, generate validation report with any issues found

Resources

•resources/geometry-standards.json - Validation thresholds and standards

Scripts

•
scripts/validate_boundary.py - Python implementation of boundary validation
- •Function: execute(inputs: dict) -> dict
- •Inputs: {"fire_id": "cedar-creek-2022"}
- •Returns: Boundary validation report with statistics

Examples

Example 1: Basic Boundary Validation

Input:

json

{
  "fire_id": "cedar-creek-2022"
}

Output:

json

{
  "fire_id": "cedar-creek-2022",
  "fire_name": "Cedar Creek Fire",
  "total_perimeter_km": 245.6,
  "reported_acres": 127341,
  "calculated_acres": 126850,
  "acreage_discrepancy_pct": 0.4,
  "sector_boundaries": [
    {
      "id": "CORE-1",
      "name": "Central Fire Origin",
      "perimeter_km": 42.3,
      "calculated_acres": 27100,
      "reported_acres": 27001,
      "is_valid": true
    }
  ],
  "geometry_issues": [],
  "validation_status": "VALID",
  "reasoning_chain": [
    "Loaded 8 sector geometries for Cedar Creek Fire",
    "All 8 polygons pass closure validation",
    "Total calculated area: 126,850 acres",
    "Discrepancy from reported (127,341 ac): 0.4% - within tolerance"
  ]
}

References

•NIFC Perimeter Standards: https://data-nifc.opendata.arcgis.com/
•GeoJSON Specification: RFC 7946
•USFS Fire Perimeter Guidelines