Fire Weather User Needs Assessment

1
Fire Weather User Needs Assessment

• Presentation of the Fire Environment Working Team
  to
• the Joint Action Group
• March 1, 2006

2
Outline

• NWCG
• FENWT
• FENWT User Needs Assessment
• Collaboration with the JAG
• Suggested stones to overturn

3
National Wildfire Coordinating Group

• Purpose
• to coordinate wildland fire management programs
• to avoid wasteful duplication
• to provide a means of constructively working
  together
• Goals
• to provide more effective execution of each
  agencys fire management program.  
• to provided a formalized system to agree upon
  standards of training, equipment, qualifications,
  and other operational functions.

4
Natl. Assn. of State Foresters Kirk Rowdabaugh
(West) Mike Long (East)
Intertribal Timber Council James Erickson
USDI
USDA
DHS
FWS (Phil Street)
NPS Edy Williams Rhodes
FS (Alice Forbes)
U.S. Fire Administration Hugh Wood
Associate Members (non-voting)
FS Fire Research Mike Hilbrunner
BIA Lyle Carlile
BLM (Larry Hamilton)
Natl. Fire Protection Association Jim Smalley
Forest Fire Management Group Paul de Mar
Prediction
Operations
Outreach
Fire Equipment WT Tory Henderson
Fire EnvironmentWT Paul Schlobohm
Fire Use WT Bill Leenhouts
Wildland/UrbanInterface WT Sam Scranton
Wildland FireInvestigation WT Paul Steensland
Incident Ops Standards WT Bob Leaverton
Incident BusinessPractices WT Hallie Locklear
Wildland FireEducation WT Maureen Brooks
Safety Health WT Paul Broyles
Radio Narrowband Advisory Group Steve Jenkins
Social Science Advisory Group Aden Seidlitz
Jonathan Taylor
Training WT Logan Lee
IRM Program Mgmt Office Judy Crosby
Support
Info Resource Mgmt. WT Shari Shetler
Publication Mgmt. System WT Allen Deitz
Geographic Area Advisory Group Brian Shiplett
5
Wildland Fire Environment

• Fuels
• Weather
• Topography

6
FENWT Concept

• Integrated approach to
• Fire Weather
• Fire Behavior
• Fire Danger
• Coordinated with
• Predictive Services
• Air/Smoke Management
• Fuels Management
• National Weather Service

7
Fire Environment Working Team
Fire Behavior Committee
Fire Danger Committee
Fire Weather Committee
Eastern States
Western States
FENWT Chair
Interagency Fuels Group NIFCG
NWS
Predictive Services Group NPSG
Fire Research
Fire/Air Issues Group FAICG
Strategic Partners
NWCGLiaison
Members charteredoutside of FENWT
StrategicPartners
Members - NASFRepresentatives
NWCGLiaison
Members charteredby FENWT
8
Fire Environment Working Team
FBC Wayne Cook
FDC Larry Bradshaw
FWC Dick Bahr
Eastern States Joe Kennedy
Western States Wayne Mitchell
FENWT Chair Paul Schlobohm
NIFCG Dennis Dupuis
NWS Leroy Spayd
NPSG Tom Wordell
Fire Research Mike Hilbruner
FAICG Dennis Haddow
Strategic Partners
NWCG Liaison Alice Forbes
Members charteredoutside of FENWT
StrategicPartners
Members - NASFRepresentatives
NWCGLiaison
Members charteredby FENWT
9
FENWT Mission

• Provide interagency oversight, strategic
  direction and vision relating to measuring and
  predicting the wildland fire environment and
  share that understanding with the users.

10
FENWT Goals

• Technology
• Existing and emerging technologies describe,
  model and predict our wildland fire environment
  conditions
• Research and Development
• RD efforts meet fire environment business needs.
• Decision Support
• Decisions are supported by robust and trusted
  applications and information.

11
FENWT Strategies and User Needs

• Identify and prioritize existing and emerging
  technologies
• Utilize an iterative process to assess user
  needs, evaluate products and monitor feedback
• Promote spatial database system that can produce
  a variety of decision products from core
  underlying environmental data

12
FENWT Strategies and Integration

• Develop an integration plan
• Establish partnership with RD
• Collaborate with RD to move science into
  application
• Support development of science-based and peer
  reviewed tools

13
How did we get here?

• NWCG asked
• How many Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS)
  do we need?

14
How did we get here?

• NWCG asked
• What are we going to do about ROMAN?

15
User Needs Assessment

• FENWT recommendation
• Weather data collection and use should be planned
  for according to users needs
• Employ an assessment of current and future needs
  for data to answer both questions
• Participate in and use OFCM/JAG and other surveys

16
User Needs Assessment

• Other surveys
• National Weather Service
• National Predictive Services Group
• BlueSkyRAINS West

17
User Needs Assessment

• January/February 2006
• NWCG approves FENWT plan
• JAG holds first meeting
• FENWT joins JAG second meeting
• Opportunity to work together

18
Stone 1.1

• From what source or sources does fire weather
  data need to be collected?
• To perform common fire management analyses
  involving weather

19
Stone 1.2

• What analyses still need to have data collected
  under current NFDRS standard?
• What analyses do not?
• Is it possible to use other datasets?
• Which ones? How?

20
Stone 2.1

• What is the role of point data in the fire
  weather applications of today and tomorrow?
• What is the role of gridded data in fire weather
  applications of today and tomorrow?

21
Stone 2.2

• What kind of observation network is required to
  implement the point and gridded data applications
  of today and tomorrow?

22
Stone 2.3

• Given the roles of point and gridded data, what
  tools/processes/systems are needed to distribute,
  analyze, display, and archive these data?

23
Question 3

• What fire weather thresholds are important to us
  (fire management)?
• How sensitive are they?