Fire fighting 747 strategically positioned for time-sensitive US operations
Fire fighting 747 strategically positioned for time-sensitive US operations
04 August 2017
published by http://www.fireandrescue.co
USA – The Pocatello Regional Airport is one of the locations that was selected on 21 July 2017 to house operations of a Boeing 747 used to fight fires. The air tanker is able to drop more than 72 000 litres of suppressant. It can reach speeds of almost 1 000 kilometres per hour, allowing it reach any part of the US within two and a half hours. The airport in Pocatello, Idaho, doesn’t normally handle planes as big as a 747 but there are certain preparations in place, including using steel plates so the plane doesnt damage the asphalt when it gets hot. David Allen, the airport manager said, “A 747 is quite big. It has a 60 to 63 metre wingspan. Its a very large airplane. We are a little concerned about takeoff on the runway and whether it could possibly blow our runway lights down or something like that.” Officials with Global SuperTanker Services filed a protest with the US Forest Service in June 2017 contesting a contract limiting fire fighting aircraft to 19 000 litres. The limit appears to conflict with the Forest Service’s 2012 air tanker modernisation strategy report identifying air tankers capable of dropping more than 30 000 litres as a part of its fire fighting effort. Global SuperTanker Services is still contesting the US Forest Services 19 000 litre limit imposed on fire fighting aircraft.
An international team of climate researchers from the US, South Korea and the UK has developed a new wildfire and drought prediction model for southwestern North America. Extending far beyond the current seasonal forecast, this study published in the journal Scientific Reports could benefit the economies with a variety of applications in agriculture, water management and forestry.
Over the past 15 years, California and neighboring regions have experienced heighteneddrought conditions and an increase inwildfire numbers with considerable impacts on human livelihoods, agriculture, and terrestrial ecosystems. This new research shows that in addition to a discernible contribution from natural forcings and human-induced global warming, the large-scale difference between Atlantic and Pacific ocean temperatures plays a fundamental role in causing droughts, and enhancing wildfire risks.
“Our results document that a combination of processes is at work. Through an ensemble modeling approach, we were able to show that without anthropogenic effects, the droughts in the southwestern United States would have been less severe,” says co-author Axel Timmermann, Director of the newly founded IBS Center for Climate Physics, within the Institute for Basics Science (IBS), and Distinguished Professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. “By prescribing the effects of man-made climate change and observed global ocean temperatures, our model can reproduce the observed shifts in weather patterns and wildfire occurrences.”
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-07-atlanticpacific-ocean-temperature-difference-fuels.html#jCpAn international team of climate researchers from the US, South Korea and the UK has developed a new wildfire and drought prediction model for southwestern North America. Extending far beyond the current seasonal forecast, this study published in the journal Scientific Reports could benefit the economies with a variety of applications in agriculture, water management and forestry.
Over the past 15 years, California and neighboring regions have experienced heighteneddrought conditions and an increase inwildfire numbers with considerable impacts on human livelihoods, agriculture, and terrestrial ecosystems. This new research shows that in addition to a discernible contribution from natural forcings and human-induced global warming, the large-scale difference between Atlantic and Pacific ocean temperatures plays a fundamental role in causing droughts, and enhancing wildfire risks.
“Our results document that a combination of processes is at work. Through an ensemble modeling approach, we were able to show that without anthropogenic effects, the droughts in the southwestern United States would have been less severe,” says co-author Axel Timmermann, Director of the newly founded IBS Center for Climate Physics, within the Institute for Basics Science (IBS), and Distinguished Professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. “By prescribing the effects of man-made climate change and observed global ocean temperatures, our model can reproduce the observed shifts in weather patterns and wildfire occurrences.”
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-07-atlanticpacific-ocean-temperature-difference-fuels.html#jCp
