Research to Operations (R2O) workshop: Using Remotely Sensed Data in Fire and Resource Management

The NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) will convene their 8th Science Team Meeting May 9-12 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in person, with plans for some virtual participation. AFSC is working with ABoVE to organize an associated hands-on workshop on using remotely sensed data and products in operational and decision-making settings on May 12-13. Note that these events were originally planned for May 2020.

The workshop will be a great opportunity for researchers and managers to work directly together to follow up on the progress made by the 2017 AFSC remote sensing workshop and its report and explore the use of promising research products in a management context. ABoVE has a helpful online web portal to its data products. The ABoVE domain includes most of Alaska and western Canada, and we hope the workshop will include our Canadian colleagues. 

Workshop report (Jan 25 2023)

Presentations:

A view from land management leadership - Tom Heinlein, BLM

A view from fire management leadership - Helge Eng, DOF

A view from science leadership - Scott Goetz, NAU

Progress report from AFSC’s 2017 workshop - Randi Jandt, AFSC

Updates from the ABoVE fire disturbance working group - Nancy French, MTRI

Goals for this workshop: identifying barriers and next steps in moving research to operations - Alison York, AFSC

Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) support of fire management - Jay Cable, GINA

How Soil Moisture Information is Currently Used in Alaska Fire Management - Eric Miller, BLM Alaska Fire Service

Drought in Fire Danger Rating Chelene Hanes, Candian Forest Service

Soil Organic Layer Moisture Retrieval to Aid in Fire Danger Assessments - Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, MTU

AK Vegetation, Fire Behavior Fuel Models and Spatial Fire Behavior - Lisa Saperstein, USFWS

Vegetation and Fuel Maps - Matt Macander, ABR Inc.

Improvement in methods, models, and tools related to combustion, Brendan Rogers, Woodwell Climate Research Center

Wildfire emissions and their impact on air quality and health in Alaska - Tony Chen, Allison Baer, University of Maryland

Impact of Smoke on Wildfire Operations - Eric Stevens, Alaska Interagency Coordination Center

2017 AFSC remote sensing workshop materials, including final report and recorded presentations

Additional background information from previous AFSC presentations:

Remote Sensing of Wildland Fire

Division of Forestry- Fuel Reduction & Wildfire

GIS and Alaska Known Sites Update

Using the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Maps and Dashboards

Polar Satellite Data from Direct Broadcast in Action in Alaska

Alaska Fire and Fuels: A Data and Display Solution

A Guide to Alaska-specific Data Resources Available for Fire Behavior Modeling

Mapping Fire Emissions: A review of the Wildland Fire Emissions Inventory System and Explanation of Recent Updates

Resiliency and vulnerability of boreal forest habitat to the interaction of climate and fire disturbance

Summary of the USFS–NASA joint applications workshop on satellite data for natural resource management

Wildland fire behavior: modeling ignition, spread, intensity, and type

Organizing Committee 
Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Michigan Tech
Mitch Burgard, AFSC
Scott Goetz, N Arizona U
Zav Grabinski, AFSC
Liz Hoy, NASA
Randi Jandt, AFSC
Jennifer Jenkins, BLM
Tatiana Loboda, U Maryland
Matt Macander, ABR Inc
Chris Potter, NASA
Brendan Rogers, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Eric Stevens, AICC
Sander Veraverbeke, Vrije U Amsterdam
Alison York, AFSC