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 agency’s fire management program.   • to provided a formalized system to agree upon standards of training, equipment, qualifications, and other operational functions.

4. USDI USDA DHS Natl. Assn. of State Foresters Kirk Rowdabaugh (West) Mike Long (East) Intertribal Timber Council James Erickson 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 Use WT Bill Leenhouts Fire Equipment WT Tory Henderson Fire EnvironmentWT Paul Schlobohm Wildland FireInvestigation WT Paul Steensland Wildland/UrbanInterface WT Sam Scranton 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 AdenSeidlitz&JonathanTaylor 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 Weather Committee Fire Behavior Committee Fire Danger Committee Eastern States Western States FENWT Chair Fire Research Predictive Services Group NPSG Fire/Air Issues Group FAICG Interagency Fuels Group NIFCG NWS NWCGLiaison Strategic Partners Members charteredby FENWT Members charteredoutside of FENWT Members - NASFRepresentatives StrategicPartners NWCGLiaison

8. Fire Environment Working Team FWC Dick Bahr FBC Wayne Cook FDC Larry Bradshaw Eastern States Joe Kennedy Western States Wayne Mitchell FENWT Chair Paul Schlobohm Fire Research Mike Hilbruner NPSG Tom Wordell FAICG Dennis Haddow NIFCG Dennis Dupuis NWS Leroy Spayd NWCG Liaison Alice Forbes Strategic Partners Members charteredby FENWT Members charteredoutside of FENWT Members - NASFRepresentatives StrategicPartners NWCGLiaison

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 • R&D 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 R&D • Collaborate with R&D 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 user’s 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?