Description

Ali Reiner and Carol Ewell presented a webinar on June 10, 2014. Fire behavior and effects models are frequently used to inform fire and land management decisions despite a lack of testing against field measurements. The Adaptive Management Services Enterprise Team (AMSET, USFS) coordinates a module focused on the collection of pre- and post-fire fuels and fire behavior data during wildland fires to fill this knowledge gap, called the Fire Behavior Assessment Team (FBAT). FBAT goals are to: 1) Explore relationship between pre-fire fuels and fire behavior and effects with field data, 2) Supply data and video useful for improving firefighter safety and public outreach, 3) Build a dataset useful for calibration of consumption, smoke production, and fire behavior and fire effects models, and 4) Measure fire effects on archeological, botanical, and biological values. Since the inception of the FBAT module, data has been collected within 14 wildland fires (98 sites) and several experimental prescribed burns (32 sites). This webinar outlines the current methods and data variables collected by FBAT to demonstrate the utility of this data for fire managers and scientists. This webinar is hosted by the International Association of Wildland Fire, Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, and the Joint Fire Science Program.