Fire-Related Web Mapping Applications

Data Collection:

Fire perimeter data is updated daily based upon input from incident intelligence sources, GPS data, IR imagery from fixed wing and satellite platforms.

The initial data will incorporate National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Situation Report Data, NOAA satellite image data processed by the USDA - Forest Service, National Atlas of the United States data, USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED), seamless data from the USGS EROS Data Center and other ancillary information from BLM, USDA-FS, and USGS.

?how/where it is stored (on server or distributed)?

Data Analysis:

display only, no predictions made

Data Presentation/Features:

The GeoMAC web site allows users in remote locations to manipulate map information displays, zoom in and out to display fire information at various scales and detail, including downloading desired information and printing hard copy for use on the fireline. The fire maps also have relational databases in which the user can display information on individual fires such as name of the fire, current acreage and other fire status information with just the click of a mouse.

The technology being implemented includes ESRI ArcIMS (Internet Map Server) and ArcSDE (Spatial Database Engine) that is viewable from any standard web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer™ and Netscape™ Communicator™.

The design of the database will allow the user to "drill down" to 1:24,000-scale information.

Users:

Originally designed for fire managers, GeoMAC is now available to the general public due to their growing concern.

Contact:

The GeoMAC Team, it’s a multi-agency group with technical and subject matter experts from the Department of Interior’s fire management agencies – the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the United States Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, also the U.S. Geological survey from the Department of the Interior. Other partners include the National Interagency Fire Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic & Atmosperheric Administration. Private corporations including ESRI, ERDAS, Sun Microsystems, and IBM provided mapping software applications, computer hardware, and technical expertise.

http://geomac.usgs.gov/geomac2002/AboutGeoMAC/ContactInfo.html

GeoMAC is housed at the U.S. Geological Surevey’s Rocky Mountain Mapping Center in Denver, CO.

GeoMAC

Building 810, Denver Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225, USA

E-mail: geomac@usgs.gov

joe_frost@fs.fed.us

janis_reimers@blm.gov

System Requirements:

http://geomac.usgs.gov/geomac2002/SysReq.html

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Blue Sky smoke modeling framework and Rapid Access INformation System (BlueSkyRAINS)

http://www.blueskyrains.org/

Introduction

This web-based system will provide regulatory agencies, burn managers, and the public with information on planned burns, meteorological conditions, pollutant trajectories, and potential air quality impacts, along with links to other relevant information.

About BlueSkyRAINS: http://www.blueskyrains.org/whatisblueskyrains.html

Project Overview: http://bluesky.cfr.washington.edu/bluesky/bluesky.jsp?page=overview

Data Available:

BlueSkyRAINS provides information on the location of a prescribed burn, the start time for the burn, the duration of the burn, the amount of acreage to be burned, and the amount of key pollutants to be emitted by the burn.

Pollutant emission values are provided for carbon dioxide (CO₂ ), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH₄) , non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), particulate matter (PM), particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) , and particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM_2.5).

Data Range:

Meteorology data will display for the past 4 months, but its accuracy is unknown. Only current planned fires will display. Forecasts are made up to three days ahead of the current day.

This prototype BlueSky Rains system provides information for the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Western Montana.

It is unknown if or where any archives of data are stored.

Data Layers:

Burn Information: Burn Locations, Burn Traj Hourly Pts, Burn Traj Lines, Def Traj Hourly Pts, Default Traj Lines, Predicted PM2.5

Meteorology: Surface Winds – General and Detailed, Mixing Height, Vent Index, Relative Humidity

Air Emission Sources: PM10 Point Sources, WA PM Air Monitors

Receptors: Census 2000 Data, Schools, Hospitals, Health Service Areas, PM10 Non-Attainment Areas, Class One Airshed, MT ID Airsheds, HUC Level Four, Tribal Lands

Base Map Data: Major Roads, Streams, Counties, Gray Shaded Relief

Data Collection:

Forestry burning information is currently being obtained from the USDA Forest Service FASTRACS database. To support trajectory and air quality modeling, output from the University of Washington's MM5 model runs is employed. Key parameters include winds (at multiple levels), relatively humidity, boundary layer height, and ventilation index. Trajectory modeling is done using the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory HYSPLIT model. The model is provided to BlueSkyRAINS through the courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Air Resource Laboratory. Trajectories are generated for each prescribed burning site and for a grid of locations over the entire region. Estimates of potential air quality impacts are made with emissions data and forecast meteorological data that are input to the CALPUFF air quality modeling system to predicts ambient concentrations of pollutants.

Links to Other Source Lists:

http://www.fs.fed.us/bluesky/framework/firecharacteristics.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/bluesky/framework/meteorology.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/bluesky/framework/emissions.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/bluesky/framework/smokedispersion.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/bluesky/framework/output.html

Data Analysis:

Forecasts include Smoke Forecast, Meteorology, and Default Smoke Trajectories.

HYSPLIT is used to generate estimates of smoke trajectories. HYSPLIT computes the transport of a single pollutant particle from each release site to provide estimates of the trajectory of pollutants emitted from multiple burn sites. It also is used to compute the backward trajectory of a pollutant particle to provide an indication of potential transport pathways backward through time. HYSPLIT’s Atmospheric transport projections are based on a dense network of forecast meteorological data that includes estimates of winds and other meteorological parameters at multiple levels in the atmosphere.

Presentation/Features:

?map features?

The website uses ArcIMS Mapping Applications (GIS software)

Maps can be printed.

The option to download data is available, but does not seem to work.

Users:

The three primary audiences that have been identified as the RAINS user base are environmental managers; program, policy, and technical specialists; and the general public.

Contact:

BlueSkyRAINS is being developed cooperatively by both the US Forest Service Fire and Research Applications Team and the US EPA Region 10.

Maintained by the USDA-FS Fire and Environmental Research Applications team.
BlueSkyRAINS contact: Dr. Susan O'Neill (oneill@fs.fed.us)
Webmaster: Mitchell Johnson (mitchelljohnson@fs.fed.us)

System Requirements:

The current version of the Internet Explorer or Netscape web browser is needed. Some animations require JAVA.

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Federal Fire History Internet Map Service

http://www.firehistory.blm.gov/firehistory/index.html

Introduction

The Federal Fire History Internet Map Service (IMS) is an official government web site that provides users with an interactive report generator and mapping tool to survey and research wildland fire history. The data available for query in this application contains over 423,000 historical fire records for fires that occurred from 1980 through 2002 in the United States.

Data Available:

The data available for query contains over 423,000 historical fire records for fires that occurred from 1980 through 2002 in the United States.

Data Layers:

The federal fire history interface allows the user to query fire history based on the following attributes:

Fire Class Size
Fire Size (Acreage)
Fire Type
Protection Type
Cause and SubCause
Fire Name
Geographic Region
State
Lat/Long Coordinates
Agency and Unit-Id
Date

?layers that can currently be displayed on the map (some are scale sensitive)?

Data Range:

Data is from 1980 through 2002 in the United States.

?range/location of any archives?

Data Collection:

The fire history data layer compiled for this application is a collection of fire records from the following five federal agencies under the United States Department of Interior (DOI) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):

Data is stored on a NT Quad Zeon server running the NT operating system.

Data Analysis:

Data is displayed only, no predictions are made.

Presentation/Features:

?map features?

The fire history data is available free as an ArcIMS streaming service or as downloadable shapefiles. To select specific fire history data, query the fire history data using the query form from the map interface that provides easy selection and quick download of fire history points.

?level of detail (scale), printability?

Users can download all fire history data from the Federal Fire History Homepage. This web site is updated with the latest data available on an annual basis.

http://www.firehistory.blm.gov/firehistory/about.html

Users:

The site is intended for users in the Wildland Fire and GIS community.

Contact:

Federal Fire History IMS is an official Department of the Interior Website provided by the Bureau of Land Management.

Contact Fire History Data Development:
David O'Rourke
GIS Analyst

Bureau of Land Management
Denver Federal Center
Building 50, Denver Federal Center
Denver, Colorado 80225
phone:(303)236-3505
email:david_o'rourke@blm.gov

System Requirements:

This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0, Netscape version 6.2, or more recently released versions of these browsers. This website is not compatible with previous versions of Netscape.

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Land Use Change Initiative Firemaps (LUCI)

http://maps.geog.umd.edu/

Introduction

View an interactive map incorporating fire detection point data, as produced by the MODIS Rapid Response System. For the fire detections, a user can identify attributes in a given date range, and query a particular detection for more information (time, brightness temp, lat/lon).

Data Available:

For the fire detections, a user can identify attributes in a given date range, and query a particular detection for more information (time, brightness temp, lat/lon). General geographic features like countries, cities, and land cover are also displayable and are customized to the regional layers.

Data Range:

Data is available for these selected regions: Brazil, Southern Africa, Conterminous U.S., Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, Central and Northern Africa, Central and Southern America. A world view is available, but less detailed.

?current displayable data range (when), and range/location of any archives?

Data Layers:

MODIS Active fire Detections

Lat/Long (ESRI)

World Countries (ESRI)

AVHRR Land Cover (GLCF)

World Cities (ESRI)

MODIS Surface Reflectance 500M

also, specific layers for each region

Data Collection:

These active fire detections are produced using the same algorithm as the standard MODIS MOD14 Fire and Thermal Anomalies Product.

List of Contributors:

http://maps.geog.umd.edu/contribute.asp

?how the raw data is collected, and how/where it is stored (on server or distributed)?

Data Analysis:

?how/with what data predictions are made (if applicable)?

Presentation/Features:

?map features, software used?

Each detection represents the center of a 1 km pixel flagged by the algorithm as containing a fire within that pixel.

Maps are readily printable.

The web site offers users the capability to download GIS shape files from the various Web Fire Maps GIS websites. The coverages are in ESRI shapefile and ARC/INFO export files format. Each page contains downloadable arc/info/view data layers in a zip format that is readable by both PC and UNIX machines. Each .zip package contains the .shp, .shx, .dbf, .sbx, and .sbn files that correspond to the product layers. PC users can use PKZIP from www.pkware.com to unpack .zip files. UNIX users can use the unzip command. JPEG files are for illustration.

Users:

?who the intended audience(s) is/are?

Contact:

The MODIS Rapid Response System is a collaboration between Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the University of Maryland (UMD) to prototype rapid access to MODIS products. The MODIS Rapid Response System websites can be found at http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov and http://rapidresponse.umd.edu.

?where/how to find them?

System Requirements:

?what software (versions) are needed to view data (map or archive)?

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Satellite Services Division Fire Detection Program

Map viewer: http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm

Introduction

The SSD Fire Program Hazard Mapping System displays five datasets on this Georgraphic Information System (GIS) web site.

SSD Fire Products Home: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/index.html

SSD Home: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/

Data Available:

Data from different satellites are available for display. The Analyzed Fires layer represents the product of all the other satellites’ data as well as analysis. The other layers show raw, more specific data that has not been analyzed much.

Data Range:

Data includes all regions of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Fires from the automatic detection algorithms outside the US may be included in some of the images, but they have not been quality controlled. Only the fires within the US have been scrutinized by the analysts.

The HMS product is made twice a day (approximately 4pm and 11pm Eastern time).

For update dates and times go here: http://nhis7.wwb.noaa.gov/website/SSDFire/update.htm

Data from the HMS, ABBA-GOES, FIMMA-AVHRR, and MODIS layers are available for download here: http://gp16.wwb.noaa.gov/FIRE/fire.html. The archive includes up to the last 400 records, or about two years of data. It can be downloaded as a text, GIS, or graphic file.

Data Layers:

Analyzed Fires From Satellites

GOES-3hr

GOES-24hr

AVHRR

MODIS

Fire Potential Outlook

Interstates

Lakes

Rivers

Counties

Data Collection:

The HMS (Hazard Mapping System) is an interactive processing system that allows the trained satellite analysts in the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB), within the Satellite Services Division (SSD), to manually integrate data from various automated fire detection algorithms with GOES and polar (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Fire Algorithm (MODIS)) images. The result is a quality controlled display of the locations of fires and significant smoke plumes detected by meteorological satellites.

Individual Fire Layers:

Hazard Mapping System (HMS)

ABBA - Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm

FIMMA - Fire Identification Mapping and Monitoring Algorithm

MODIS - Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Fire Algorithm

DMSP/OLS - Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System Nighttime Lights Algorithm

Data Analysis:

The HMS data is promoted above the others because it has been carefully prepared by trained analysts and is superior in quality to the other data sets.

The fire sizes depicted in the product are primarily determined by the field of view of the satellite instrument, or the resolution of the analysis tool. They should not be used to estimate specific fire perimeters. The orientation and precise location of the data becomes distorted and the representation is no longer valid if the user zooms in too much.

For more details on analysis, see the individual layer’s page (links are above).

Presentation/Features:

?map features?

ArcIMS by ESRI software is used.

The WF-ABBA system uses multi-spectral GOES imagery (visible, 3.9 and 10.7 microns). The GOES instantaneous field of view at nadir is 4x4 km.

The AVHRR instantaneous field of view at nadir is 1x1 km.

Maps can be printed. Data can be downloaded from the archives.

Users:

The public and government are the intended users.

Contact:

Authors: Donna McNamara; Brian Hughes and Nancy Merckle (template)
HMS Development Team: Donna McNamara, Rob Fennimore, Tim Kasheta, Mark Ruminski, George Stephens and Marlene Patterson.

FIMMA SSD Deveopment team: Donna McNamara and Yi Song
CoastWatch team (provides geo-corrected data): John Sapper, Peter Hollemans, Jill Wemmer and Dave Donahue

Contact Information:

SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov

SSDWebmaster@noaa.gov

System Requirements:

A current web browser is all that’s needed.

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United States Geological Survey (USGS) Integrated Vegetation Mapping

http://gisdata.usgs.net/website/IVM/viewer.asp

Home: http://gisdata.usgs.net/website/IVM/

Introduction

The USGS Integrated Vegetation Mapping Viewer provides a dynamic online map interface that can be used to view a suite of satellite-derived vegetation condition datasets, integrated with information from The National Map.

Data Available:

The primary dataset is Greenness based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. The secondary datasets are Relative Greenness, Departure from Average, Fire Potential (experimental), Seasonal Greenness and Percent of Seasonal Greenness.

Data Range:

Layers are available for the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Data layers have variable time ranges.

Location/existence of archives is unknown

Data Layers:

Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination (GeoMAC)

Satellite Services Division Fire Detection Program

Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination (GeoMAC)

Blue Sky smoke modeling framework and Rapid Access INformation System (BlueSkyRAINS)

Federal Fire History Internet Map Service

Land Use Change Initiative Firemaps (LUCI)

Satellite Services Division Fire Detection Program

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Integrated Vegetation Mapping