# Presentation: 822119

## Joint Action Group for the National Wildland Fire Weather Needs Assessment

- 12 Dec 2006, 10:00 – 12:00 EST
- Cochairs: Dr. Al Riebau, Mr. Eli Jacks
- OFCM: USAF Lt. Col. Dave Andrus

- Telecon # 888-680-9581, pass code 535430#
- GoToMeeting _[https://www.gotomeeting.com/join/309540361](https://www.gotomeeting.com/join/xxxxxxxxx)__, ID is 309540361_

## Agenda

- Welcome and administrative actions
- Primary goal
- JAG-established goals
- Action item update
- Survey status
- Analysis plans
- Timeline
- Open discussion
- Plans for next meeting
- Review new action items

## Welcome and Administrative Actions

**Welcome!**
- Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, Samuel P. Williamson
**Administrative remarks**
- Attendance roster
- Facility information
- GoToMeeting use
**ROA approval**

## Primary Goal

- The Western Governors urge NOAA to:
- • Complete a National Needs Assessment Report, by NOAA’s Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, of federal, state and local fire managers needs for weather information in their wildfire and prescribed fire decision making processes and a framework to meet those needs by the NWS and Predictive Services.

## JAG-Established Goals

- Comprehensive assessment of weather and climate needs of providers and users in their wildland fire and fuels management activities
- Assessment of provider agency capability to deliver weather and climate information to fire managers and other users
- Raise the critical nature of fire weather to a new level of community awareness

## Action Item Update

- Closed action items
- 06-3.3  Assessment information gathering tool
- 06-4.1 Observational data survey development
- 06-4.2 Fire modeling survey development
- 06-4.3 Forecast products and services survey development
- 06-4.4 Information dissemination survey development
- 06-4.5 Survey contact list
- 06-4.6 Survey cover letters
- 06-4.9 JAG-developed contact list

## Action Item Update

- Open actions items
- 06-4.7 NWS provide information on product shortfalls and gaps (Hockenberry)
- 06-4.8 Predictive services provide information on product shortfalls and gaps (Ochoa)

## Fire Congress Special Session

- Special session – 39 participants
- Speakers presented material on each functional area
- Active dialog on fire weather needs
- Data collection, integrity, processing and archival
- Need for data integrity, especially with historical/climatological data
- Need for data requirements study
- Need for data standards

## Fire Congress Special Session

- Forecast products and services
- One standard doesn’t fit all
- Need longer term forecasts for season-ending events and fire behavior
- Modeling, prediction, and data assimilation
- Need to investigate use of models to determine optimal observational data density
- Information dissemination and technologies
- Need for improving speed at which data and products are available to the user
- Interest in common repository (web location) for current information on various research efforts

## Fire Congress Special Session

- Education, training, outreach, partnering and collaboration
- Need to examine potential benefits of distance learning
- Socioeconomic impacts
- Concerns raised with alerting general public to fire danger vulnerability (arson)
- Also addressed need to alert law enforcement of danger vulnerability for public safety

## Survey Status

- Early survey effort – 174 contacted, 83 returns
- Fire Congress survey given to 437 federal attendees – 22 returns
- Online version sent to
- 1161 federal (who didn’t attend Fire Congress)
- 369 non-fed through various outreach efforts
- ??? others, as forwarded by JAG members
- Total online distribution well over 1,500
- Online returns to date: 260+
- Total contacts = 2,000+
- Total returns = 360+

## Online Survey Respondents

## Online Survey Respondents

## Online Survey Respondents

## Survey Analysis Plans

- JAG assistance needed to for initial evaluation of responses within each functional area
- Subject matter expertise is critical component of evaluation
- Determine overall theme of responses
- Document most prevalent needs, gaps, and concerns addressed by multiple respondents
- OFCM involved in all functional areas
- Provide analysis framework & coordinate effort
- Validate and augment initial results
- Synthesize all functional area results
- JAG members will be given opportunity to comment throughout the process

## Survey Analysis Plans

- Data - Paul Schlobohm (FENWT)
- R&D - Al Riebau
- Forecast products and services - Eli Jacks
- Modeling, prediction, and data assimilation - ??
- Information dissemination and technologies  - Larry Bradshaw
- Education, training, outreach, partnering and collaboration - ??
- User response, decision support, and resulting user impacts - ??
- Funding and human resource considerations - ??
- Socioeconomic impacts - ??

## Timeline

- Dec 22	– Survey responses due
- Jan 	– Analysis work
- Feb 	– Draft assessment
- Feb 21? 	– JAG meeting on draft assessment
- Mar		– Assessment editing continues
- Apr 18? 	– JAG meeting on assessment results
- Jun 10-12 – Presentation to WGA

## Open Discussion

## Meeting Plans

- Feb 21?
- Apr 18?

## New Action Items

## Agenda

- Welcome and administrative actions
- Primary goal
- JAG-established goals
- Action item update
- Survey status
- Analysis plans
- Timeline
- Open discussion
- Plans for next meeting
- Review new action items

## Backup Slides

## JAG-Established Functional Areas

- Data collection, integrity, processing and archival
- Fire weather research and development
- Forecast products and services
- Modeling, prediction, and data assimilation
- Information dissemination and technologies
- Education, training, outreach, partnering and collaboration
- User response, decision support, and resulting user impacts
- Funding and human resource considerations
- Socioeconomic impacts