This webinar is presented by Gary L. Achtemeier, and hosted by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center.
Gary L. Achtemeier will present a webinar on predicting the occurrence and transport of smoke-induced dense fog (superfog) which has been implicated in roadway accidents around the nation. The webinar will summarize 20 years of collaboration between land managers in the southeastern U.S. and the USFS Smoke Management Team located at Athens, GA. Smoke from residual combustion in the aftermath of prescribed burns or wildfires can combine with certain atmospheric conditions usually late at night to produce superfog – a fog reducing visibility to less than 10 feet, and frequently to less than 3 feet. When this smoke/fog is transported across a major roadway, the results are often disastrous. The superfog problem is divided into two sub-problems. The first sub-problem is predicting where smoke from prescribed burns is transported over complex terrain late at night under near-calm conditions. The second sub-problem is figuring out just what causes often times small concentrations of smoke to flash into superfog. The talk will be highlighted with photos of superfog taken during prescribed burns and accidents, and superfog simulated by laboratory experiments at the University of California, Riverside. We will also look at efforts to create a “superfog index” to alert land managers to the dangers of superfog and to answer the question, “If I burn tomorrow, will I create a superfog incident tomorrow night?”