scholarly journals How Can We Span the Boundaries between Wildland Fire Science and Management in the United States?

2012 ◽  
Vol 110 (8) ◽  
pp. 421-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Kocher ◽  
Eric Toman ◽  
Sarah F. Trainor ◽  
Vita Wright ◽  
Jennifer S. Briggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Science

Effects of wildfire on national park visitation and the regional economy: a natural experiment in the Northern Rockies

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Duffield ◽  
Chris J. Neher ◽  
David A. Patterson ◽  
Aaron M. Deskins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Park ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Demand Models ◽  
Value Loss ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Observed Behaviour

Federal wildland fire management policy in the United States directs the use of value-based methods to guide priorities. However, the economic literature on the effect of wildland fire on nonmarket uses, such as recreation, is limited. This paper introduces a new approach to measuring the effect of wildfire on recreational use by utilising newly available long-term datasets on the location and size of wildland fire in the United States and observed behaviour over time as revealed through comprehensive National Park Service (NPS) visitor data. We estimate travel cost economic demand models that can be aggregated at the site-landscape level for Yellowstone National Park (YNP). The marginal recreation benefit per acre of fire avoided in, or proximate to, the park is US$43.82 per acre (US$108.29 per hectare) and the net present value loss for the 1986–2011 period is estimated to be US$206 million. We also estimate marginal regional economic impacts at US$36.69 per acre (US$90.66 per hectare) and US$159 million based on foregone non-resident spending in the 17-county Great Yellowstone Area (GYA). These methods are applicable where time-series recreation data exist, such as for other parks and ecosystems represented in the 397-unit NPS system.

scholarly journals TOPOFIRE: A Topographically Resolved Wildfire Danger and Drought Monitoring System for the Conterminous United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (9) ◽  
pp. 1607-1613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary A. Holden ◽  
W. Matt Jolly ◽  
Alan Swanson ◽  
Dyer A. Warren ◽  
Kelsey Jencso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Snow Water Equivalent ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Proactive Management

AbstractPatterns of energy and available moisture can vary over small (<1 km) distances in mountainous terrain. Information on fuel and soil moisture conditions that resolves this variation could help to inform fire and drought management decisions. Here, we describe the development of TOPOFIRE, a web-based mapping system designed to provide finely resolved information on soil water balance, drought, and wildfire danger information for the contiguous United States. We developed 8-arc-second-resolution (~250 meter) daily historical, near real-time, and 4-day forecast radiation, temperature, humidity, and snow water equivalent data and used these grids to calculate a suite of drought and wildfire danger indices. Large differences in shortwave radiation and surface air temperature with aspect contribute to greater snow accumulation and delays in melt timing on north-facing slopes, delaying fuel conditioning on shaded slopes. These datasets will help advance our understanding of the role of topography in wildland fire spread and ecological effects. Integration with national programs like the Wildland Fire Assessment System, the Wildland Fire Decision Support System, and drought early warning systems could support more proactive management of wildland fires and refine the characterization of drought in mountainous regions of the United States.

scholarly journals Modeling Regional-Scale Wildland Fire Emissions with the Wildland Fire Emissions Information System*

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy H. F. French ◽  
Donald McKenzie ◽  
Tyler Erickson ◽  
Benjamin Koziol ◽  
Michael Billmire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Information System ◽  
North America ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Web

Abstract As carbon modeling tools become more comprehensive, spatial data are needed to improve quantitative maps of carbon emissions from fire. The Wildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS) provides mapped estimates of carbon emissions from historical forest fires in the United States through a web browser. WFEIS improves access to data and provides a consistent approach to estimating emissions at landscape, regional, and continental scales. The system taps into data and tools developed by the U.S. Forest Service to describe fuels, fuel loadings, and fuel consumption and merges information from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration on fire location and timing. Currently, WFEIS provides web access to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area for North America and U.S. fire-perimeter maps from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity products from the USGS, overlays them on 1-km fuel maps for the United States, and calculates fuel consumption and emissions with an open-source version of the Consume model. Mapped fuel moisture is derived from daily meteorological data from remote automated weather stations. In addition to tabular output results, WFEIS produces multiple vector and raster formats. This paper provides an overview of the WFEIS system, including the web-based system functionality and datasets used for emissions estimates. WFEIS operates on the web and is built using open-source software components that work with open international standards such as keyhole markup language (KML). Examples of emissions outputs from WFEIS are presented showing that the system provides results that vary widely across the many ecosystems of North America and are consistent with previous emissions modeling estimates and products.

An Evaluation of NDFD Weather Forecasts for Wildland Fire Behavior Prediction

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley G. Page ◽  
Natalie S. Wagenbrenner ◽  
Bret W. Butler ◽  
Jason M. Forthofer ◽  
Chris Gibson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Fire Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mean Bias Error ◽  
Bias Error ◽  
Behavior Prediction

Abstract Wildland fire managers in the United States currently utilize the gridded forecasts from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) to make fire behavior predictions across complex landscapes during large wildfires. However, little is known about the NDFDs performance in remote locations with complex topography for weather variables important for fire behavior prediction, including air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. In this study NDFD forecasts for calendar year 2015 were evaluated in fire-prone locations across the conterminous United States during periods with the potential for active fire spread using the model performance statistics of root-mean-square error (RMSE), mean fractional bias (MFB), and mean bias error (MBE). Results indicated that NDFD forecasts of air temperature and relative humidity performed well with RMSEs of about 2°C and 10%–11%, respectively. However, wind speed was increasingly underpredicted when observed wind speeds exceeded about 4 m s−1, with MFB and MBE values of approximately −15% and −0.5 m s−1, respectively. The importance of accurate wind speed forecasts in terms of fire behavior prediction was confirmed, and the forecast accuracies needed to achieve “good” surface head fire rate-of-spread predictions were estimated as ±20%–30% of the observed wind speed. Weather station location, the specific forecast office, and terrain complexity had the largest impacts on wind speed forecast error, although the relatively low variance explained by the model (~37%) suggests that other variables are likely to be important. Based on these results it is suggested that wildland fire managers should use caution when utilizing the NDFD wind speed forecasts if high wind speed events are anticipated.

scholarly journals A Review of Community Smoke Exposure from Wildfire Compared to Prescribed Fire in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Navarro ◽  
Don Schweizer ◽  
John R. Balmes ◽  
Ricardo Cisneros
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Smoke Exposure ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Wildfire Smoke ◽  
Scientific Papers

Prescribed fire, intentionally ignited low-intensity fires, and managed wildfires, wildfires that are allowed to burn for land management benefit, could be used as a land management tool to create forests that are resilient to wildland fire. This could lead to fewer large catastrophic wildfires in the future. However, we must consider the public health impacts of the smoke that is emitted from wildland and prescribed fire. The objective of this synthesis is to examine the differences in ambient community-level exposures to particulate matter (PM2.5) from smoke in the United States from two smoke exposure scenarios &ndash; wildfire fire and prescribed fire. A systematic search was conducted to identify scientific papers to be included in this review. Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed for scientific papers, and Google Scholar were used to identify any grey literature or reports to be included in this review. Sixteen studies that examined particulate matter exposure from smoke were identified for this synthesis &ndash; nine wildland fire studies and seven prescribed fire studies. PM2.5 concentrations from wildfire smoke were found to be significantly lower than reported PM2.5 concentrations from prescribed fire smoke. Wildfire studies focused on assessing air quality impacts to communities that were nearby fires and urban centers that were far from wildfires. However, the prescribed fire studies used air monitoring methods that focused on characterizing exposures and emissions directly from and next to the burns. This review highlights a need for a better understanding of wildfire smoke impact over the landscape. It is essential for properly assessing population exposure to smoke from different fire types.

Wildfire Management and Forecasting Fire Potential: The Roles of Climate Information and Social Networks in the Southwest United States

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gigi Owen ◽  
Jonathan D. McLeod ◽  
Crystal A. Kolden ◽  
Daniel B. Ferguson ◽  
Timothy J. Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fire Ecology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Wildland Fire Management

Abstract Continuing progress in the fields of meteorology, climatology, and fire ecology has enabled more proactive and risk-tolerant wildland fire management practices in the United States. Recent institutional changes have also facilitated the incorporation of more advanced climate and weather research into wildland fire management. One of the most significant changes was the creation of Predictive Services in 1998, a federal interagency group composed, in part, of meteorologists who create climate- and weather-based fire outlooks tailored to fire manager needs. Despite the numerous forecast products now available to fire managers, few studies have examined how these products have affected their practices. In this paper the authors assess how fire managers in the Southwest region of the United States perceive and incorporate different types of information into their management practices. A social network analysis demonstrates that meteorologists have become central figures in disseminating information in the regional interagency fire management network. Interviews and survey data indicate that person-to-person communication during planning phases prior to the primary fire season is key to Predictive Services’ success in supporting fire managers’ decision making. Over several months leading up to the fire season, predictive forecasts based on complex climate, fuels, and fire-risk models are explained to fire managers and updated through frequent communication. The study’s findings suggest that a significant benefit of the information sharing process is the dialogue it fosters among fire managers, locally, regionally, and nationally, which better prepares them to cooperate and strategically plan for the fire season.

The new smoke management

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen R. Riebau ◽  
Douglas Fox
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Atmospheric Particulate Matter ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Smoke Management ◽  
Ozone Precursor

This paper was presented at the conference ‘Integrating spatial technologies and ecological principles for a new age in fire management’, Boise, Idaho, USA, June 1999 The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will implement new regulations for the management of atmospheric particulate matter 2.5 µm and less in diameter (PM2.5), tropospheric ozone, and regional haze in the next few years. These three air quality issues relate directly to forest and agriculture burning. Fire generates PM2.5 and ozone precursor gases that reduce visibility. Hence, wild and agricultural land managers will be subject to these air quality regulations much as industrial and mobile sources have been for the past 25 years. In addition, these new regulations come at a time when private as well as public land managers throughout the United States are developing plans to increase their application of fire as a management tool. Prescribed fire will remain viable as a tool for land managers with these new regulations but only under a responsible smoke management paradigm. This paradigm will include formal ‘state-approved’ Smoke Management Programs and will require the use of new and ‘approved’ technologies that have been subjected to public and stakeholder scrutiny as regulatory tools. These programs will acknowledge that wildland fire is different from conventional human-caused air pollution sources. They will recognize that the managed use of fire is a superior option to wildfire from public safety and health perspectives. But they will also require greater utilization of non-burning alternatives in all circumstances, especially where fire is used for economic rather than ecological reasons. Through better smoke management and greater use of non-burning alternatives, steadily reduced smoke emissions will likely result.

scholarly journals Comparison of Ozone Measurement Methods in Biomass Burning Smoke: An evaluation under field and laboratory conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell W. Long ◽  
Andrew Whitehill ◽  
Andrew Habel ◽  
Shawn Urbanski ◽  
Hannah Halliday ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
The United States ◽  
Photometric Method ◽  
Wildland Fires ◽  
Fire Plumes ◽  
Fire Smoke ◽  
Field And Laboratory Conditions

Abstract. In recent years wildland fires in the United States have had significant impacts on local and regional air quality and negative human health outcomes. Although the primary health concerns from wildland fires come from fine particulate matter (PM2.5), large increases in ozone (O3) are also observed downwind of wildland fire plumes. Conditions generated in and around wildland fire plumes, including the presence of interfering chemical species, can make the accurate measurement of O3 concentrations using the ultraviolet (UV) photometric method challenging if not impossible. UV photometric method instruments are prone to interferences by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are present at high concentrations in wildland fire smoke. Four different O3 measurement methodologies were deployed in a mobile sampling platform downwind of active prescribed grassland fire lines in Kansas and Oregon and during controlled chamber burns at the United States Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. We demonstrate that the Federal Reference Method (FRM) nitric oxide (NO) chemiluminescence monitors and Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) gas-phase (NO) chemical scrubber UV photometric O3 monitors are relatively interference-free, even in near-field combustion plumes. In contrast, FEM UV photometric O3 monitors using solid-phase catalytic scrubbers show positive artifacts that are positively correlated with carbon monoxide (CO) and total gas phase hydrocarbons (THC), two indicator species of biomass burning. Of the two catalytic scrubber UV photometric methods evaluated, the instruments that included a Nafion® tube dryer in the sample introduction system had artifacts an order of magnitude smaller than the instrument with no humidity correction. We hypothesize that Nafion®--permeable VOCs (such as aromatic hydrocarbons) could be a significant source of interference for catalytic scrubber UV photometric O3 monitors, and that the inclusion of a Nafion® tube dryer assists with the mitigation of these interferences. The interference-free chemiluminescence FRM method is highly recommended for accurate measurements of O3 in wildland fire plume studies and at regulatory ambient monitoring sites frequently impacted by wildland fire smoke.

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