GFMC EARLY WARNING PORTAL: DAILY GLOBAL AND REGIONAL FIRE WEATHER AND CLIMATE FORECASTS & BACKGROUND MATERIALS

Eurasia Experimental Fire Weather Information System

(in renovation – July 2020)


Introduction

Forest fire researchers from Canada, Russia, and Germany have recently developed methodologies for electronically gathering daily fire danger and large fire occurrence data for large portions of northern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Eurasia). Weather data from more than 800 weather stations are processed daily to produce fire weather and fire behavior potential maps and reports using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS). The maps are displayed by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC). The CFFDRS outputs are primarily applicable to boreal forests with moderate to deep forest floor layers and, therefore, well suited for use across the region.

The CFFDRS, developed by the Canadian Forest Service, consists of two primary subsystems: the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, and the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System. The outputs of the FWI system consists of six relative numerical ratings for a reference fuel type (mature pine) on level terrain, based on continuous weather observations taken at 1200 Local Standard Time. An extension of the FWI system, the Daily Severity Rating, linearizes the Fire Weather Index scale, providing better accuracy in quantifying fire severity and suppression difficulty. The FBP system provides quantitative estimates of physical fire behavior characteristics for specific fuel types adjusted for topographic conditions, and based on FWI system outputs.

See for more details on the elements of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System. These data, along with calculated FWI system values, are stored in a relational database at the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton, Canada. The GFMC displays the daily Fire Weather Index (FWI) map. The FWI is a numerical rating of fire intensity that combines the Initial Spread Index (ISI) and the Buildup Index (BI). It is suitable as a general index of fire danger throughout the forested areas of Canada and Eurasia. For maps displaying the fuel moisture codes, the fire behaviour indexes and weather please click directly on the latest update available on the database.

Example of the Experimental Fire Weather Index (FWI) for Eurasia for 13 July 2020. The locations of GFMC and the three Regional Fire Monitoring / Fire Management Resource Centers are indicated in the map. For download of the daily updated maps – see instructions below.

The components of the Fire Weather Index and the meteorological data below are updated daily at ca. 1500 GMT/UTC by Wildland Fire Information Systems at Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, and can be downloaded here:

Since June 2020 the Fire Weather Index component maps provide these components:

  • Fire Weather Index (FWI)
  • Fire Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC)
  • Duff Moisture Code (DMC)
  • Drought Code (DC)
  • Initial Spread Index (ISI)
  • Buildup Index (BUI)
  • Daily Severity Rating (DSR)
  • Wind speed (direction will be added)
  • Precipitation
  • Temperature
  • Relative Humidity

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