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  1. National strategic plan: modeling and data systems for wildland fire and air quality.

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    Author(s): David V. Sandberg; Colin C. Hardy; Roger D. Ottmar; J.A. Kendall Snell; Ann Acheson; Janice L. Peterson; Paula Seamon; Peter Lahm; Dale Wade
    Date: 1999
    Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-450. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 60 p
    Publication Series: General Technical Report (GTR)
    Station: Pacific Northwest Research Station
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.2737/PNW-GTR-450
    PDF: Download Publication  (414 KB)

    Description

    This strategic plan is a technical discussion of the implementation and development of models and data systems used to manage the air quality impacts of wildland and prescribed fires. Strategies and priorities in the plan were generated by the Express Team (chartered by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group) and a diverse group of 86 subject matter experts who attended a national planning workshop.

    Air pollution from fires used to manage ecosystems is an issue in many parts of the country. Land managers are rapidly expanding the use of fire for managing ecosystems, while air resource managers are accelerating efforts to reduce the impacts of fires on air quality. This plan provides a conceptual design as a first step toward balancing these goals, identifies information needs to support management and policy development, and identifies strategies for developing and implementing models and data systems. The conceptual design was based around a three-dimensional array of air resource components and fire management components at various project scales. This array was reduced to nine program elements, each with a description of their scope, current situation, desired state, and strategies to reach that state.

    The Express Team recommends nine summary strategies as a synthesis of internal discussions, review comments, and proceedings of the national workshop. The strategies recommended relate to:

  2. Fuel and fire characterization
  3. Emission modeling systems
  4. Transport, dispersion, and secondary pollutant formation
  5. Air quality impact assessment
  6. Emissions tradeoffs and determination of natural visibility
  7. Impact and risk assessment of emissions from fires
  8. Monitoring guidelines and protocols
  9. National fire and air quality information database
  10. Public information and protection.

    Publication Notes

    • Visit PNW's Publication Request Page to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Sandberg, David V.; Hardy, Colin C.; Ottmar, Roger D.; Snell, J.A. Kendall; Acheson, Ann; Peterson, Janice L.; Seamon, Paula; Lahm, Peter; Wade, Dale. 1999. National strategic plan: modeling and data systems for wildland fire and air quality. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-450. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 60 p

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    Keywords

    fire, air, wildland fire, fire effects, fire management, fire modeling, air quality, air pollution, air resource management, data systems, smoke

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