# Presentation: 201444

## Fire Weather User Needs Assessment

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

## Outline

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

## 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.

## Prediction

- Lyle Carlile

**BLM**
- (Larry Hamilton)

**FWS**
- (Phil Street)

**NPS**
- Edy Williams Rhodes

**FS**
- (Alice Forbes)

**Natl. Assn. of State Foresters**
*Kirk Rowdabaugh* (West)
- Mike Long (East)

**U.S. Fire Administration**
- Hugh Wood

**Intertribal Timber Council**
- James Erickson

**USDI**

**FS Fire Research**
- Mike Hilbrunner

**USDA**

**Associate Members (non-voting)**

**Natl. Fire Protection Association**
- Jim Smalley

**Forest Fire Management Group **
- Paul de Mar

**DHS**

**IRM Program Mgmt Office **Judy Crosby

**Fire Equipment WT**
- Tory Henderson

**Fire Environment****WT **
- Paul Schlobohm

**Info Resource Mgmt. WT **Shari Shetler

**Fire Use WT**
- Bill Leenhouts

**Wildland/Urban****Interface WT**
- Sam Scranton

**Safety & Health WT**
- Paul Broyles

**Training WT **Logan Lee

**Incident Business****Practices WT**
- Hallie Locklear

**Publication Mgmt. System WT **Allen Deitz

**Incident Ops Standards WT**
- Bob Leaverton

**Wildland Fire****Investigation WT**
- Paul Steensland

**Radio Narrowband Advisory Group**
- Steve Jenkins

**Geographic Area Advisory Group **Brian Shiplett

**Wildland Fire****Education WT**
- Maureen Brooks

**Prediction**

**Operations**

**Outreach**

**Support**

**Social Science Advisory Group **Aden** **Seidlitz** **&** **Jonathan** **Taylor

## Wildland Fire Environment

- Fuels
- Weather
- Topography

## FENWT Concept

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

## Fire Environment Working Team

- Members charteredoutside of FENWT

- StrategicPartners

**FENWT Chair**

- Fire Behavior Committee

- Fire Danger Committee

- Fire Weather Committee

- Interagency
- Fuels Group
- NIFCG

- NWS

- Predictive Services
- Group
- NPSG

- Strategic
- Partners

- Eastern States

- Western States

- Members - NASFRepresentatives

- NWCGLiaison

- Fire Research

- Fire/Air Issues
- Group
- FAICG

- Members charteredby FENWT

- NWCGLiaison

## Fire Environment Working Team

- Members charteredoutside of FENWT

- StrategicPartners

- FENWT Chair
- Paul Schlobohm

- FBC
- Wayne Cook

- FDC
- Larry Bradshaw

- FWC
- Dick Bahr

- NIFCG
- Dennis Dupuis

- NWS
- Leroy Spayd

- NPSG
- Tom Wordell

- Strategic
- Partners

- Eastern States
- Joe Kennedy

- Western States
- Wayne Mitchell

- Members - NASFRepresentatives

- NWCGLiaison

- Fire Research
- Mike Hilbruner

- FAICG
- Dennis Haddow

- Members charteredby FENWT

- NWCG Liaison
- Alice Forbes

## 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.

## 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.

## 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

## 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

## How did we get here?

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

## How did we get here?

- NWCG asked:
- What are we going to do about ROMAN?

## 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

## User Needs Assessment

- Other surveys:
- National Weather Service
- National Predictive Services Group
- BlueSkyRAINS West

## User Needs Assessment

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

## Stone 1.1

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

## 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?

## 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?

## Stone 2.2

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

## 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?

## Question 3

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