Transatlantic Fire Resource Guide
Photo Credit: Eric Evenson (NAFSE)
Transatlantic Fire Resource Guide
As the increasing number and intensity of wildfires become one of the imminent consequences of changing climate and weather conditions worldwide, it becomes increasingly important to be aware of meteorological conditions that favor their destructiveness. With wildfires becoming more extreme under changing environmental conditions, the ability of firefighters to extinguish fires directly and in a short period of time is decreasing. Therefore, long-term forecasting and knowledge of state-of-the-art weather models and satellite data is necessary to complement operations. Highly sophisticated fire weather and fire behaviour analysis, as for example incorporated in the Fire Services of Catalunya, Australia, and the United States provides an useful and safe approach for decision making. Therefore, learning about available resources and their use and capabilities, allows people confronted with fire to gain a comprehensive understanding of state-of-the-art information systems and possible gaps in regional coverage of certain information. This guide will present a selection of available online resources for Germany, Europe and North America, describe their capabilities, and explain their importance to wildfire operations. The goal of this guide is not a complete and detailed description of all available resources but a glimpse into the realm of fire information.
The Transatlantic Fire Resource Guide is the collaborative efforts of Aaron Arneke and Eric Evenson. Aaron is a masters student at the University of Bremen in Germany and a member of the Waldbrandteam). Eric is the Science Communications Specialist with the North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange (NAFSE) and former Incident Meteorologist (IMET) with the National Weather Service. Their work together on this project is through the International Association of Wildland Fire's (IAWF) Mentoring Program.
