The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) has been used in Alaska since 1992. The CFFDRS is comprised of two major subsystems: the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System and the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System. The FWI System has six standard components:
- Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC)
- Duff Moisture Code (DMC)
- Drought Code (DC)
- Initial Spread Index (ISI)
- Buildup Index (BUI)
- Fire Weather Index (FWI)
These six components provide relative numerical ratings of wildland fire potential for a standard fuel type on level terrain based on weather inputs. The FBP System provides for actual quantitative estimates of various fire behavior parameters for 16 distinct fuel types and topographic situations based in part on inputs from the FWI System (primarily the ISI and BUI).
Visit the CFFDRS website at Natural Resources Canada.
Contacts
Martin E. Alexander
Wild Rose Fire Behaviour
mea2@telus.net
curriculum vitae (pdf)
Mike Wotton
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service
Mike.Wotton@nrcan.gc.ca