Canadian Next Generation Forest Fire Danger Rating System & Overwintering Drought
April 27 2022 | 1200-1300 MDT
This talk will introduce CFS’s research program focused on updating the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) and then specifically drill down into providing an update on the latest research on drought monitoring. Mike Wotton will give a very brief introduction to the overall research and development program the CFS has initiated to develop a Next Generation of the CFFDRS. This ongoing program involves updates to well knows parts of the System (like the FWI and FBP Systems) as well as the ability to use new inputs. There are a lot of individual research elements in the program and Wotton will provide some linkages to informally recorded presentations that fire management personnel might find useful if they are looking for more details. Chelene Hanes will provide details about her research on drought, with the goal of providing clarity into some of the questions about what the Drought Code represents, especially in areas with shallow organic layers, and its fall shut-down and spring starting procedures. In doing so she will touch on new technologies and advancements in soil moisture measurement and land surface modelling and how they may provide added intelligence about drought in the fire environment.
Presented by:
Mike Wotton is a Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service. His research has focused on linkages between weather, fuel moisture, and fire behaviour and he currently coordinates the research program to update the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System.
Chelene Hanes is a Physical Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. Her PhD research is focused on improving our understanding of drought in fire danger rating, through field studies and remote sensing applications. She is a member of the CFS Fire Danger Group.