Thomas E Pierce

1
Joint Action Group for the National Wildland Fire
Weather Needs Assessment A Perspective from
the U.S. EPA

• Thomas E Pierce
• NOAA/Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division
• In partnership with the U.S. EPA, Office of
  Research and Development
• pierce.tom_at_epa.gov
• Presentation to the OFCM JAG/NWFWNA
• 20 April 2006

2
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA Perspective

• Mission of EPA
• to protect human health and the environment
• Mission as it relates to wildland fire
• working with partners (at the federal, tribal,
  state, and local level), characterize and
  mitigate the impacts of wildland fire on human
  health and the environment

3
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA PerspectiveWhat
decisions/processes require fire weather and
climate information?

• Air quality management (past, present, future)
• the past
• Use historical scenarios to establish baseline
  assessments need to characterize meteorology
  (for mesoscale met models) and wildland fire
  emissions (by location, time, chemical species,
  and amount).
• the present
• Via the NOAA/EPA partnership, generate
  short-term air quality forecasts for the U.S.
  Focus is on ozone and fine particulates (PM2.5),
  both of which are affected by emissions from
  fires. Local and regional air quality management
  districts apply tools like BlueSky and AirPact to
  assess air quality impacts from fires.
• the future
• Project fire behavior for future AQ assessments
  (10 -100 y) forecast effects of climate on
  fires currently, climatology of fire frequency
  and behavior is the default assumption.

(Note Fire info may also be needed for ecosystem
and clean water assessments.)
4
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA PerspectiveWho are the
primary users/stakeholders of fire weather
information?

• Air quality managers/decision makers/general
  public
• Local and state air quality offices
• Regional Planning Organizations (e.g., WRAP,
  LADCO)
• Tribal bodies
• EPA Regional Offices (Region IV, IX)
• EPA Office of Air and Radiation (national
  rulemaking, climate change assessment)
• EPA Office of Research and Development
• Sensitive populations

5
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA PerspectiveWhat functional
areas are agency priorities?

• FA4-Modeling-Prediction-Data-Assimilation
• need to characterize smoke emissions and
  transport
• FA2-Fire-Wx-Research-Development
• need improved tools for smoke emissions and
  behavior
• need to assess impact of future climate on fire
• need improved boundary-layer flow modeling near
  fires
• FA5-Information-Dissemination-Technology
• need better integration of air quality related
  tools/data
• need improved collaboration between agencies
• FA7-Decision-Support-User-Impacts
• need improved assessment tools for air quality
  (to include probabilistically-based forecasts)

6
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA PerspectiveAs related to the
wildland fire weather system, what areas are
best practices and what areas need work?

• Best practices
• Timely availability of met data and met forecasts
  to drive atmospheric chemical models
• Daily availability of the NOAA/NESDIS HMS fire
  product
• Availability of event-specific fire info (e.g.,
  209 reports)
• Willingness of federal agencies, like USFS and
  NOAA, to share information and to collaborate on
  fire-related issues
• Needs work
• Need for improved characterization of fire
  emissions and plume behavior
• Need for readily-available databases of
  event-specific fire emissions
• Need for better coordination of air quality
  modeling tools and related observational data of
  fire emissions and air quality impacts

7
JAG-NWFWNA USEPA PerspectiveWhat specific
question would EPA like to see addressed?

• What are the emissions and resulting air quality
  impacts from wildland fires in the past, present,
  and future?

Disclaimer The views expressed in this
presentation do not necessarily reflect the views
and policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) or the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).