mask_to_mosaic: Apply a Binary Raster Mask (and Optional Geographic Clip) to...

In OtsuFire: Fire Scars, Severity and Regeneration Mapping Using 'Otsu' Thresholding

Apply a Binary Raster Mask (and Optional Geographic Clip) to a Two-Band Mosaic

Description

This function applies a binary raster mask to a 2-band burned area mosaic (RBR and DOY). All pixels in the mosaic where the mask does not match 'valid_mask_value' are assigned 'NA'. Optionally, a shapefile can be provided to crop and mask the mosaic to a specific geographic area (e.g., the Iberian Peninsula).

The function ensures that the mask raster is projected and aligned to the mosaic before applying. The output is saved with the same resolution as the input mosaic.

Usage

mask_to_mosaic(
  mosaic_path,
  mask_raster_path,
  output_path = NULL,
  valid_mask_value = 1,
  crs_target = 3035,
  shapefile_clip = NULL
)

Arguments

mosaic_path	Character. Path to the input 2-band raster mosaic (e.g., with RBR and DOY).
mask_raster_path	Character. Path to the binary mask raster (e.g., burnable areas).
output_path	Character (optional). Output destination. There are three behaviors: If 'NULL', the output is saved in the same folder as the input mosaic, using the same base name with suffix '_mosaic_masked_res90m.tif'. If a directory path is provided, the output file will be saved inside that folder, using the same base name as the input mosaic, with suffix '_mosaic_masked_res90m.tif'. If a full file path ending in '.tif' is provided, that name is used directly as the output.
valid_mask_value	Numeric. Value in the mask that defines valid pixels (default is 1).
crs_target	Integer or character. EPSG code for reprojection (only used if needed). Default: 3035.
shapefile_clip	Character (optional). Path to a shapefile to further crop and mask the mosaic.

Details

This function is typically used after mosaicking burned area products derived from satellite imagery. It filters areas outside a burnable mask (e.g., based on land cover) and optionally restricts output to a defined geographic region (e.g., the Iberian Peninsula).

Input mosaic must have: - Band 1: Relative Burn Ratio (RBR) - Band 2: Day of Year (DOY)

Output raster is written in GeoTIFF format with LZW compression.

Value

Character. Full path to the final masked (and optionally clipped) raster.

Note

Examples require large external raster files (hosted on Zenodo). Therefore, they are wrapped in dontrun to avoid errors during R CMD check and to ensure portability.

Examples

## Not run: 
# Case 1: Let the function generate the output name in the same folder
mask_to_mosaic(
  mosaic_path = "data/IBERIAN_MinMin_all_year_2012_mosaic_res90m.tif",
  mask_raster_path = "data/burneable_mask_corine_ETRS89.tif"
)

# Case 2: Save the output to a specific folder, name generated automatically
mask_to_mosaic(
  mosaic_path = "data/IBERIAN_MinMin_all_year_2012_mosaic_res90m.tif",
  mask_raster_path = "data/burneable_mask_corine_ETRS89.tif",
  output_path = "outputs/"
)

# Case 3: Define the full output file name explicitly
mask_to_mosaic(
  mosaic_path = "data/IBERIAN_MinMin_all_year_2012_mosaic_res90m.tif",
  mask_raster_path = "data/burneable_mask_corine_ETRS89.tif",
  output_path = "outputs/custom_masked_output_2012.tif"
)

## End(Not run)

OtsuFire documentation built on June 13, 2025, 3:01 a.m.