Nov 24 2014

Webinar on Dec 4: Adventures with IFTDSS on the Kenai Peninsula

Join us for the first webinar of the season!

Lisa Saperstein, Regional Fire Ecologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service – Alaska Region

Thursday, December 4, 2014
10:00 am AKST

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3446718627144957698

This webinar explores a current effort to use the Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System (IFTDSS) in Alaska for fuel treatment planning on or adjacent to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, IFTDSS was also used to assess the effectiveness of pre-existing fuelbreaks during the 2014 Funny River Fire as well as providing insight on how IFTDSS can inform the design of future fuel treatments.

Caption: Modeled post-treatment changes in flame length within a fuelbreak. Green pixels indicate an estimated reduction of 6 – 32 feet. Figure courtesy Lisa Saperstein.

Nov 21 2014

Presentations available from the CFFDRS Summit in Fairbanks!

: This presentation and MANY MORE available on fuel moisture sampling, remote sensing validation of FWI, new remote sensing tools for fire detection and growth modeling, using dataloggers on soil moisture probes to track fuel moisture changes, and the seasonality of CFFDRS, to name a few.

Whether you were there or missed it, the presentations and recorded videos from the 2014 Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System Summit held in Fairbanks October 28-30th are worth reviewing. 2014. The workshop was a great opportunity to discuss fire risk indices and fire behavior applications in Alaska and to hear how fire managers in Canada, the Great Lakes States and around the world are using the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. There were over 50 managers and scientists in attendance.

Breakout group at the October 2014 CFFDRS Summit in Fairbanks

Nov 4 2014

What does the 2014 Funny River Fire mean for moose on the Kenai?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to capture 100 moose in the vicinity of the 200,000 acre Funny River Fire to monitor their response to the changes in vegetation and use of areas with different burn severities. Past large fires in 1947 and 1969 have generally been thought to benefit moose by providing prime forage conditions during a couple decades after they burn. Fifty moose will be fitted with GPS tracking collars to monitor movements and sensors to monitor body temperature will be used to see if recently burned areas result in “hotter” moose. Read more about the planned research and the fire in ADF&G’s November newsletter.

Photo by Thomas McDonnough

Oct 23 2014

Warmer Permafrost–especially in Arctic Alaska

It’s hard to say what impact the recession of permafrost in the northern half of Alaska will have on fire regime. One could presume there should be more organic moss and duff material available for combustion during the summer, which is likely to have implications for tundra fire extent and severity. Warmer permafrost has also been linked to more extensive retrogressive thaw slumps–a kind of thermokarst which have been seen after tundra fire in ice-rich areas (photo). If you can make it, Dr. Romanovsky’s talk “Evidence of recent warming and thawing of permafrost in the Arctic and sub-Arctic,“ with updates on his extensive grid of permafrost monitoring wells up and down Alaska should be very interesting. The talk is Oct 23 at Elvey Auditorium, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, at 4 pm ADT.

UAF scientist Dan Mann examines fire-induced thermokarst 3 years after Anaktuvuk River fire in arctic Alaska.

Oct 5 2014

Fire Improves Bison Habitat for Farewell Herd

In 2010 almost 100,000 acres burned around Farewell Lakes–you may recall the “Turquoise Lake” fire. If you’re interested to see what effect this is having on the Farewell bison herd, check the October 2014 issue of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game newsletter <HERE>.

Jul 14 2014

New safety zone recommendations

Critical New Research Expands Size of Wildland Firefighter Safety Zones

The Joint Fire Science Program has supported the wildfire safety zone work of Bret Butler, a research engineer at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. Bret recently reviewed current guidelines and is leading development of new guidelines that will link slope, wind, and fire intensity to safety zone size.

A preliminary safety zone rule from this effort is now available, based on current findings relative to energy transport from wildland fire in the presence of slope and wind. The calculation is based on vegetation height rather than flame height.

Although results are preliminary and subject to change, this new research significantly expands the safety zone for many situations and should be used to provide an extra margin of safety for all wildland fire personnel.

Learn more here: http://www.firelab.org/project/firefighter-safety-zones

Click to access 07-2-1-20_Safety_zones_07112014.pdf

Jun 22 2014

Graduate Thesis Defense by Aditi Shenoy

Role of fire severity in controlling patterns of stand dominance following wildfire in boreal forests

Wednesday, 25 June 2014 1:00PM
O’Neill Bldg, rm 201, Vera Alexander Learning Center, UAF
(If you can’t make it live, we hope to post a recording)
http://www.iab.uaf.edu/

May 12 2014

Research Brief: New Satellite Sensors for Wildfire Mapping and Monitoring

UNIversity FORmation Mission 1–microsatellite designed by Hokkaido University for wildfire management (photo: Koji Nakau)

Hokkaido University (HU) is one of the world leaders in developing new earth-observing space technology. Dr. Koji Nakau leads their wildfire remote sensing applications team. He’s working with various partners—including UAF—on new satellite-derived products delivered to wildland fire managers in Alaska and around the world. They are especially excited about the May 24th (2014) launch of a rocket carrying ALOS-2 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) which is also carrying a couple microsatellites with sensors specifically designed by his team to detect wildfire signatures. In addition to improving real-time operational support, satellite data is analyzed in support of wildfire propagation modeling, smoke transport, fuels estimates, and post-fire ecology.

Read About the New Satellites>> | Download Research Brief PDF (744 kb)

Apr 24 2014

Abstract deadline extended to May 15 for Wildland Fire Canada 2014

Wildland Fire Canada 2014
October 7-9th, 2014
Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, Halifax, Nova Scotia
WildlandFireCanada.ca

The Program Committee has extended the deadline for abstracts to May 15. The committee is currently accepting abstracts on, but not limited to, the following:
•Historic Fires – Learning from Our Past
•Risk Management and Multiple Disturbances in a Changing Climate
•Fire and the Natural Resource and Utilities Sectors
•Society and Fire
•Accountability at the Local, Provincial, National and International Levels

Abstract submission instructions at wildlandfirecanada.ca (note that the site still shows a deadline of April 15, hopefully this will be updated shortly).

Apr 16 2014

Presentation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at UAF–Now Available!

The Alaska Center for Unmanned Aerial Systems Integration is a research center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks for small, unmanned aircraft systems–UAVs, often referred to as “drones”– providing integration of unique payloads and supporting pathfinder missions within government and science communities–including the Fire Management Community. ACUASI has 11 different aircraft with more coming all the time. Deputy Director Ro Bailey gave a presentation at the Interagency Dispatchers workshop March 26, 2014 and allowed us to post her slides for those who weren’t at the meeting. Find the presentation on Archive of Events & Webinars or link to the presentation page HERE.