AQFx - an Australian Smoke Forecasting System (Short)
Channel: The Royal Society of Victoria
Date: 2020-04-16

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) routinely forecasts smoke from bushfires and prescribed burns using AQFx, an Air Quality Forecasting framework originally developed for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) to aid in the management of smoke from prescribed burns. In the devastating Australian summer of 2019-20, the AQFx has been extensively used for forecasting bushfire smoke exposure, and also as input to visibility advisories for general aviation and the Australian Defence Force.

Developed by CSIRO, BoM, and a consortium of universities, the AQFx technology includes monitoring of fire propagation, smoke emission, smoke transport, smoke chemistry, population exposure, and communication modules. Atmospheric scientist Dr Martin Cope from CSIRO here explores the major science components of AQFx and the use of the system to forecast smoke, using case studies taken from both the current and historical bushfire and prescribed burn episodes.

Produced by the Royal Society of Victoria for the Inspiring Victoria program. Filmed and edited by Robert Cross. Interview by Mike Flattley.

Full lecture available at https://youtu.be/r0h7AlcjV7Y