A Mobile Fire Behavior Prediction Calculator to Inform Fire Management in Alaska

In the last decade, the annual area burned by wildfires in Alaska has doubled relative to any of the previous four decades, and the current frequency of fire is unprecedented over the past 1,200 years. Wildland fires are one of the main contributors to long-term changes in the structure and function of boreal and subarctic ecosystems. Although fire is a necessary component of regulating these ecosystems, it also poses a hazard to humans when uncontrolled. 

Currently, fire managers use the Fire Behavior Prediction Calculator to perform calculations that can assist in field management of fires, but the only version of this tool that is available depends on network access, which poses a significant limitation for use in Alaska. The current alternative option in the field relies on a manual process that requires ample time and limits the ability to share the information. 

This project will develop a mobile application to automate the current manual process of performing necessary calculations in the field and sharing the analysis results. This mobile application will provide an important additional tool for fire managers in the field to calculate fire behavior predictions both for operational decision making as well as documentation of their analyses. A first version of this application will address the field analysis needs of the fire manager. The application will be developed for use on common mobile devices (e.g., smart phones and tablets) with the core functionality that allows users to enter required variables and retrieve the same results as the web-based Fire Behavior Prediction Calculator.

This project builds upon the previous Alaska CASC-funded project, Assessing Seasonal Wildfire Forecasting Methods in Alaska.