GFMC: Forest Fires in Canada
20 August 2001
The Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modelling (FireM3) is a collaboration of the Canadian Forest Service and the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. Through the Map Link at the FireM3 web site you can access daily hotspot images. An Internet Map Server, which is like a simple GIS running on the host computer, allows you to zoom in on any fire or other area of interest and view the image and map data at full (1km) resolution. You can also click on any fire and get information about that fire.
The satellite image, the daily fire overview map and the season-to-date
hotspot map for 18 August respectively 19 August 2001 display the current significant fire events.
(Source: FireM3)
A satellite image showing hot spots (orang pixels) in British Columbia and
Washington State on 16 August 2001. Smoke plumes
were detected using a CCRS algorithm and are enhanced to appear yellow.
(Source: FireM3)
A weekly National Forest Fire Situation Report report is available online every Friday. The report provides year-to-date fire number and area burned, information on problem fires, interagency mobilization, synopsis and prognosis.
The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is a part of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System and consists of six components that account for the effects of fuel moisture and wind on fire behavior. The first three components are fuel moisture codes and are numerical ratings of the moisture content of litter and other fine fuels, the average moisture contentof loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth, and the average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers. The remaining three components are fire behavior indexes which represent the rate of fire spread, the fuel available for combustion, and the frontal fire intensity; their values rise as the fire danger increases. For futher information please see the Summary Information.
Fine Fuel Moisture Code
Duff Moisture Code
Drought Code
Initial Spread Index
Buildup Index
Fire Weather Index
Fire Danger Rating
The latest available images of the Canadian Fire Weather Index System 19 August 2001.
(Source: CFWIS)
Operational Significant Event Imagery (OSEI)
The following significant events were identified by Satellite Analysis Branch meteorologists and reviewed by the OSEI support team:
NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-14 POES AVHRR LAC satellite images, 17 August 2001.
Heat signatures (red) and smoke (light blue haze) are visible from fires burning in British
Columbia, Canada.
(Source: OSEI/NOAA)