Alaska Fire Modeling & Analysis Tools

Alaska is faced with a unique fire management problem that has been handled in an interagency way for more than 30 years. The evolution of fire management has led to a different approach in interagency cooperation; weather data management; fire behavior and fire danger implementation; GIS management; and overall fire suppression strategies. This guide is intended to provide standardized inputs...

The Fuel Model Guide to Alaska Vegetation (Cella et al. 2008) was developed by an interagency team of fire practitioners and vegetation mappers/specialists in 2008. It crosswalked vegetation types described in the Alaska Vegetation Classification (Viereck et al. 1992) with the following fuel models/fuel types: 1.40 Fire Behavior Fuel Models (FBFM40; Scott and Burgan 2005); 2.13 Fire Behavior...

This guide is intended as a reference for US users who may have reason to work with the system in the United States, where English units are primarily used. Keep in mind that the Canadian Forest Service has produced the definitive selection of reference publications and tools referenced below. The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) was first conceived in 1968. The Fire Weather...

The Alaska Fire Modeling and Analysis Committee developed this 2 page guide with resources and recommendations for those new to the wildland fire decision-making process.

FSPro (Fire Spread Probability) is a fire modeling system that calculates the probability of fire spread from a fire perimeter or ignition point for a specified time period. Combining landscape data layers (crown base height, crown bulk density, etc.), current weather forecasts, historical weather scenarios, fuel moisture classifications, fire history, and wind speed and direction, FSPro can...

This table was assembled based on contributions and discussions among many fire behavior researchers, programmers, and practitioners. The models compared include spot distance nomograms, BehavePlus v.5.0.2, FlamMap 3.0, STFB: Short Term Fire Behavior (WFDSS version of FlamMap 5.0), FARSITE v. 4.1.055, NTFB: Near Term Fire Behavior (WFDSS version of FARSITE), and FSPro.

[from the text] Over 1.4 million acres of bark beetle insect activity was recorded (Burnside 2001) on the Kenai Peninsuladuring the 1990's. This "high intensity" beetle infestation dramatically altered the composition and structure of spruce forests in affected areas. Ever since the beetle attack episode occurred, dynamic change in the fire regime has been experienced within the...

Black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill) B.S.P) is the dominant forest cover type in interior Alaska and is prone to frequent, stand-replacing wildfires. Through impacts on tree recruitment, the degree of fire consumption of soil organic layers can act as an important determinant of whether black spruce forests regenerate to a forest composition similar to the prefire forest, or to a new forest...

The Fire Behavior Field Reference Guide (FBFRG) describes a range of practices by which fire behavior assessments are conducted for fireline leadership in the field, and by Fire Behavior Analysts (FBANs) and Long Term Fire Analysts (LTANs) in support of more sophisticated analysis. It is a hands-on publication for use in the field, in fire behavior training, and as a learning reference. It is...