Description

The Weather Information Management System (WIMS) is a comprehensive system that helps agencies manage weather information. It also hosts the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS), incorporating both the 1978 and 1988 fuel models. WIMS provides the data to calculate fire danger rating at AICC using both NFDRS and CFFDRS. NFDRS fuel models Q and G are the ones used in the calculations; the Energy Release Component (ERC, abbreviated EC in WIMS) used Fuel model G, dense conifer stands. In Alaska, the fire Danger index and 7-day Fire Potential Forecast products use both CFFDRS and NFDRS (Model G). The webinar organizers hope for a concerted effort by station mangers before the fire season to review and correct their weather observation data from the last three years so that forecast and model products will be more accurate. The KCFAST database is one way to quickly summarize data back as far as 1994 including summarizing missing data from stations. AICC Predictive Services Weather webpage has links to NWS reigonal weather and ROMAN which can also be used to verify weather observations from your weather station, if you think an observation might be in error. This webinar was presented by Jan Passek, Sharon Alden, and Heidi Strader; and hosted by the Alaska Fire Science Consortium (www.akfireconsortium.alaska.edu). It originally aired on February 25, 2013.